Two new species of Pteropus from Samoa, probably extinct.

37 p. : ill., maps ; 26 cm. "June 25, 2009." Includes bibliographical references (p. 30-37).Two new species of flying foxes (genus Pteropus) from the Samoan archipelago are described on the basis of modern museum specimens collected in the mid-19th century. A medium-sized species (P. allenorum, n. sp.) is introduced from the island of Upolu (Independent Samoa), based on a specimen collected in 1856 and deposited in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. It has not been collected again, and we regard it as almost certainly extinct. This species is smaller bodied and has much smaller teeth than both extant congeners recorded in the contemporary fauna of Samoa (Pteropus samoensis and P. tonganus). The closest relative of this new species may be Pteropus fundatus of northern Vanuatu. The disjunct historical distribution of these two small-toothed flying foxes (in Vanuatu and Samoa) suggests that similar species may have been more extensively distributed in the remote Pacific in the recent past. Another species, a very large flying fox with large teeth (P. coxi, n. sp.), is described from two skulls collected in Samoa in 1839-1841 during the U.S. Exploring Expedition; it too has not been collected since. This robust species resembles Pteropus samoensis and Pteropus anetianus of Vanuatu in craniodental conformation but is larger than other Polynesian Pteropus, and in some features it is ecomorphologically convergent on the Pacific monkey-faced bats (the pteropodid genera Pteralopex and Mirimiri). On the basis of eyewitness reports from the early 1980s, it is possible that this species survived until recent decades, or is still extant. These two new Samoan species join Pteropus tokudae of Guam, P. pilosus of Palau, P. subniger of the Mascarenes, and P. brunneus of coastal north-eastern Australia as flying foxes with limited insular distributions that survived at least until the 19th century but are now most likely extinct.American Museum of Natural History

New material of Coryphomys buehleri Schaub, 1937, and description of a second species of the genus.

80 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 26 cm. Issued July 21, 2010.Large collections of fragmentary animal bones excavated from archaeological contexts in East Timor between 1968 and 2002 provide new material referable to the recently extinct, gigantic murine genus Coryphomys. We document the upper and lower dentition and palatal anatomy of C. buehleri Schaub, 1937, and identify and name a second species of Coryphomys, based on differences in molar size and morphology and skeletal robusticity. Alternative interpretations of the observed morphological and metric variability (sexual dimorphism, resource-based polymorphism, sample heterochroneity) are each carefully assessed and rejected, and we conclude that the genus comprised two species of approximately similar body size. Preserved cranial elements of both species of Coryphomys feature a high degree of anatomical specialization, including an unusual elaboration of the maxillary sinus complex. Though the specialized anatomy of Coryphomys invites consideration of its phylogenetic relationships, this exercise is hindered by a demonstrable high level of homoplasy (i.e., multiple, independent evolutionary losses and gains) in many of the key craniodental features traditionally surveyed within Murinae, while other features are insufficiently well surveyed for broad-scale analysis. Nevertheless, our comparisons highlight two potentially related lineages among the geographically proximate Murinae - the Philippine Phloeomyini and the Australo-Papuan Hydromyini. The remains of Coryphomys are relatively scarce in all the archaeological samples, but distributional evidence suggests that both species of Coryphomys were found primarily in upland habitats. Late Pleistocene samples document their former presence at lower elevations, possibly reflecting cooler climatic conditions at that time

Review of Leptomys

60 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-60).Two new species of the endemic New Guinea rodent genus Leptomys Thomas, 1897, are described: L. paulus, indigenous to the montane forests in the Owen Stanley Range in eastern New Guinea, and L. arfakensis, known only from the Arfak Mountains on the Vogelkop Peninsula in western New Guinea. These descriptions are presented within a taxonomic review of Leptomys based on all known specimens in collections of the world's museums. In addition to the new species, the morphological attributes and geographic distributions of three others are documented. Leptomys elegans occurs in southcentral and southeastern New Guinea both north and south of the Central Cordillera, ranging from the Kikori River Basin in the west to the southern slopes of the Owen Stanley Range, then extending round to the north side of the Cordillera in the Maneau Range, and in the outlying highland block of Mount Victory. Leptomys signatus is recorded only from the Fly and Kikori River drainages south of the Central Cordillera. Leptomys ernstmayri is found in montane forests of the eastern Central Cordillera (Aroa River to Mt. Karimui), reaches to the outlying mountains on the Huon Peninsula and the Adelbert Range, and also occurs in the isolated Foja Mountains of far western New Guinea. Judged by variation in qualitative and morphometric external, cranial, and dental traits associated with available samples, L. arfakensis, n. sp., is likely more closely related to L. elegans and L. signatus, all with large bodies and relatively short tails, than to L. ernstmayri and L. paulus, n. sp., that are characterized, among other features, by smaller body size and relatively longer tails. There is significant phenetic divergence among the geographic samples identified here as L. ernstmayri, and additional inquiry, especially utilizing data from molecular sources, is required to determine whether this intersample variation reflects the presence of separate species, each endemic to the Huon Peninsula, Adelbert Range, Central Cordillera, and possibly the Foja Mountains, or instead represents montane variation within a single morphologically variable species

Giant bandicoot.

41 p. : ill., map ; 26 cm. "September 14, 2010."The giant bandicoot, Peroryctes broadbenti (Ramsay, 1879), is represented in museum collections by 23 specimens collected at 12 localities in the lowlands of the southeastern peninsula (the "Papuan Peninsula") of Papua New Guinea. Available data on P. broadbenti are reviewed, including its comparative anatomy and morphological variability, taxonomic relationships, geographic and elevational distribution, dietary and reproductive traits, and conservation status. Despite previous confusion between this species and P. raffrayana (Milne-Edwards, 1878), the two species are readily distinguished by a suite of external, cranial, and dental characters. Diagnostic characters are enumerated and illustrated, and comparisons drawn with other New Guinean bandicoots. Generic distinction of Peroryctes Thomas, 1906, in cranial morphology from other New Guinean bandicoots is also reviewed. A striking degree of sexual dimorphism is documented in both body size and dentition for P. broadbenti; these comparisons are set in context by a review of sexual dimorphism among bandicoots in general

Genomic analysis reveals hidden biodiversity within colugos, the sister group to primates

Colugos are among the most poorly studied mammals despite their centrality to resolving supraordinal primate relationships. Two described species of these gliding mammals are the sole living members of the order Dermoptera, distributed throughout Southeast Asia. We generated a draft genome sequence for a Sunda colugo and a Philippine colugo reference alignment, and used these to identify colugo-specific genetic changes that were enriched in sensory and musculoskeletal-related genes that likely underlie their nocturnal and gliding adaptations. Phylogenomic analysis and catalogs of rare genomic changes overwhelmingly support the contested hypothesis that colugos are the sister group to primates (Primatomorpha), to the exclusion of treeshrews. We captured ~140 kb of orthologous sequence data from colugo museum specimens sampled across their range and identified large genetic differences between many geographically isolated populations that may result in a >300% increase in the number of recognized colugo species. Our results identify conservation units to mitigate future losses of this enigmatic mammalian order.Victor C. Mason, Gang Li Patrick Minx, Jürgen Schmitz, Gennady Churakov, Liliya Doronina, Amanda D. Melin ... et al

Contributions in honor of Guy G. Musser.

450 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 26 cm. "Issued December 15, 2009." Includes bibliographical references.Contents: They sort out like nuts and bolts : a scientific biography of Guy G. Musser / Michael D. Carleton -- Taxonomy, distribution, and natural history of the genus Heteromys ‪(‬Rodentia: Heteromyidae‪)‬ in central and eastern Venezuela, with the description of a new species from the Cordillera de la Costa / Robert P. Anderson and Eliécer E. Gutiérrez -- Review of the Oryzomys couesi complex ‪(‬Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae‪)‬ in western Mexico / Michael D. Carleton and Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales -- The antiquity of Rhizomys and independent acquisition of fossorial traits in subterranean muroids / Lawrence J. Flynn -- A new species of Reithrodontomys, subgenus Aporodon ‪(‬Cricetidae: Neotominae‪)‬, from the highlands of Costa Rica, with comments on Costa Rican and Panamanian Reithrodontomys / Alfred L. Gardner and Michael D. Carleton -- Phylogenetic relationships of harpyionycterine megabats ‪(‬Chiroptera: Pteropodidae‪)‬ / Norberto P. Giannini, Francisca Cunha Almeida, and Nancy B. Simmons -- A new genus and species of small ‪"‬tree-mouse‪"‬ ‪(‬Rodentia, Muridae‪)‬ related to the Philippine giant cloud rats / Lawrence R. Heaney, Danilo S. Balete, Eric A. Rickart, M. Josefa Veluz, and Sharon A. Jansa -- Biodiversity and biogeography of the moss-mice of New Guinea : a taxonomic revision of Pseudohydromys ‪(‬Muridae: Murinae‪)‬ / Kristofer M. Helgen and Lauren E. Helgen -- Systematic revision of sub-Saharan African dormice ‪(‬Rodentia: Gliridae‪)‬. Part 2, Description of a new species of Graphiurus from the central Congo Basin, including morphological and ecological niche comparisons with G. crassicaudatus and G. lorraineus / Mary Ellen Holden and Rebecca S. Levine -- Descriptions of new species of Crocidura ‪(‬Soricomorpha: Soricidae‪)‬ from mainland Southeast Asia, with synopses of previously described species and remarks on biogeography / Paulina D. Jenkins, Darrin P. Lunde, and Clive B. Moncrieff -- The six opossums of Félix de Azara : identification, taxonomic history, neotype designations, and nomenclatural recommendations / Robert S. Voss, Philip Myers, François Catzeflis, Ana Paula Carmignotto, and Josefina Barreiro -- Skull and dentition of Willeumys korthi, nov. gen. et sp., a cricetid rodent from the Oligocene ‪(‬Orellan‪)‬ of Wyoming / John H. Wahlert

The Earth BioGenome Project 2020: Starting the clock

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