Abstract
A distributional isolate in southwestern Western Australia previously assigned to Gould’s Long-eared Bat Nyctophilus gouldi Tomes, 1858 is demonstrated to be a distinct and previously unnamed cryptic species, based on a lack of monophyly with eastern populations and substantial DNA sequence divergence (5.0 %) at the mitochondrial gene COI. Morphologically both species are alike and overlap in all measured characters but differ in braincase shape. The new species has one of the most restricted geographic ranges of any Australian Vespertilionidae and aspects of its ecology make it vulnerable to human impacts.
Highlights
Long-eared bats of the genus Nyctophilus are small to medium-sized species of the cosmopolitan family Vespertilionidae
The two lineages identified within N. gouldi separated specimens from eastern and western Australia and were 5.0% divergent for cytochrome oxidase 1 (COI) (Table 1) (5.7 % divergent for cytochrome b (CytB))
We have elevated Western Australian populations previously considered to be N. gouldi sensu lato to species status (N. holtorum sp. nov.) based primarily on a lack of monophyly and substantial DNA sequence divergence. We believe this arrangement more accurately reflects the long isolation of the southwest WA populations from those in eastern Australia through the presence of the arid Nullarbor Barrier and is consistent with the recognition of eastern and western species of Falsistrelles (Kitchener et al, 1986), and a range of other mesic-adapted taxa including potoroos (Frankham et al, 2012), honeyeaters (Toon et al, 2010) and black cockatoos (White et al, 2011)
Summary
Long-eared bats of the genus Nyctophilus are small to medium-sized species of the cosmopolitan family Vespertilionidae. Gould’s Long-eared Bat Nyctophilus gouldi Tomes, 1858, as currently understood, is found on mainland southeastern Australia extending from far southeastern South Australia, through Victoria and NSW to eastern Queensland as far north as the Atherton Tableland (Pennay et al, 2008). An isolated occurrence in far southwestern Western Australia (WA) was first tentatively recognized by Kitchener & Vicker (1981), following the realization by Hall & Richards (1979) that N. gouldi was a species distinct from the larger Greater Long-eared Bat N. timoriensis (Geoffroy, 1806). Throughout most of the 20th century N. gouldi had been treated as the southeastern Australian subspecies of N. timoriensis and the presence there of a larger species had been overlooked prior to Hall & Richards (1979). Specimens of N. gouldi from WA existed in research collections including the Australian Museum (AM) in the early 20th century, they remained unrecognized and were assigned to N. timoriensis
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