Goodman Steven M, Kearney Teresa, Ratsimbazafy Malalatiana Michèle, Hassanin Alexandre
Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605, USA..
Zootaxa. 2017 Feb 22;4236(2):zootaxa.4236.2.10. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4236.2.10.
The taxonomy of sub-Saharan small insectivore bats of the family Vespertilionidae is unresolved and currently five named species of the genus Neoromicia are recognized from southern Africa, with N. melckorum considered a synonym of N. capensis. Since several years, the name "N. cf. melckorum" has been used in the literature to designate an apparently undescribed and moderately large bodied vespertilionid bat known from different localities in southern and southeastern Africa. Using new data from molecular genetics, bacular morphology, and cranio-dental characters, we conclude that N. melckorum sensu stricto is indeed nested within N. capensis and obtain the needed evidence to formally describe "N. cf. melckorum", named herein as N. stanleyi sp. nov. On the basis of molecular and bacular evidence, N. stanleyi is found in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, and using a combination of other characters is presumed to occur in northern South Africa and Malawi. Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses based on 12S rRNA sequences indicate that it belongs to a clade containing four species of Neoromicia (N. capensis, N. malagasyensis, N. matroka, and N. robertsi) and Laephotis. Neoromicia stanleyi shows at least 3.2% nucleotide divergence from its closest relatives. It is larger in cranial characters than other members of the capensis group occurring in the southern portion of Africa, and a number of bacular characters distinguish N. stanleyi from N. capensis.
撒哈拉以南地区食虫小蝙蝠科(Vespertilionidae)的分类尚未明确,目前从南部非洲已识别出5个命名的新鼠耳蝠属(Neoromicia)物种,其中梅氏新鼠耳蝠(N. melckorum)被认为是好望角新鼠耳蝠(N. capensis)的同义词。多年来,文献中一直使用“N. cf. melckorum”这一名称来指代一种显然未被描述过的、体型中等偏大的食虫小蝙蝠,在南部非洲和东南部非洲的不同地点均有发现。利用分子遗传学、阴茎骨形态学和颅齿特征的新数据,我们得出结论,狭义的梅氏新鼠耳蝠确实嵌套在好望角新鼠耳蝠之中,并获得了正式描述“N. cf. melckorum”所需的证据,在此将其命名为斯坦利新鼠耳蝠(N. stanleyi sp. nov.)。基于分子和阴茎骨证据,斯坦利新鼠耳蝠分布于博茨瓦纳、津巴布韦和赞比亚,结合其他特征推测其也出现在南非北部和马拉维。基于12S rRNA序列的贝叶斯分析和最大似然分析表明,它属于一个包含4种新鼠耳蝠(好望角新鼠耳蝠、马达加斯加新鼠耳蝠、马氏新鼠耳蝠和罗伯茨新鼠耳蝠)和非洲毛翼蝠属(Laephotis)的进化枝。斯坦利新鼠耳蝠与其最亲近的亲属在核苷酸上至少有3.2%的差异。在颅骨特征上,它比非洲南部出现的好望角新鼠耳蝠组的其他成员更大,并且一些阴茎骨特征将斯坦利新鼠耳蝠与好望角新鼠耳蝠区分开来。