New species records from Buton Island, South East Sulawesi, including regional range extensions

Abstract

Peninsular Malaysia is currently thought to host the highest biodiversity of Old World bats of any region, with 110 species recorded. However, the availability of literature to facilitate a similarly thorough species ‘checklist’ is not as readily available for other parts of Southeast Asia, including Sulawesi, Indonesia. Here we highlight 13 new species records from the long-term bat monitoring programme on Buton Island, South East Sulawesi, expanding on Patterson et al.’s (2017) previous inventory for this study area. One species (Hipposideros galeritus) is a new record for Sulawesi, and seven species (Cynopterus c.f. minutus, Rousettus celebensis, Megaderma spasma, Hipposideros c.f. ater, Myotis c.f. horsfieldii, Myotis c.f. moluccarum, and Myotis c.f.muricola) are new records for Buton Island. The remaining five species (Thoopterus nigrescens, Dobsonia exoleta, Acerodon celebensis,Mosia nigrescens, and Mops sarasinorum) have been previously reported from Buton but were missing from the prior site inventory. We also correct a probable mistaken species identification in the previous inventory (Cynopterus cf. titthaecheilus, now identified as Thoopterus nigrescens). This brings the total of confirmed species detected on Buton to 35, equating to 46.7% of all Sulawesi’s known bat diversity in c. 3% of its land area. We highlight Buton as a key area for conserving the region’s bat species.