DIVERSITY AND ROOSTING CHARACTERISTIC OF BATS IN BUNI AYU CAVE, SUKABUMI LIMESTONE AREA, WEST JAVA

  Penelitian keanekaragaman dan karakteristik tempat bertengger kelelawar di Gua Buni Ayu, Desa Cipicung, Kecamatan Nyalindung, Kabupaten Sukabumi, Jawa Barat dilakukan untuk mengetahui keanekaragaman jenis kelelawar dan karakter spesifik tempat bertenggernya. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini antara lain jaring kabut, jaring bertangkai dan observasi. Selain itu, pengukuran suhu dan kelembaban relatif juga diukur di setiap tempat bertengger. Dari penelitian ini diketahui sebanyak 504 indi-vidu kelelawar yang terdiri dari empat jenis yaitu Hipposideros diadema, Hipposideros galeritus, Rhi-nolophus affinis dan Miniopterus magnater berada di Gua Buni Ayu. Bentuk fisik lorong gua diketahui meru-pakan faktor penting yang mempengaruhi jenis-jenis kelelawar dalam menentukan tempat bertenggernya. Rerata suhu udara berkisar antara 26.67-28.46 0C, sedangkan kelembaban udara berkisar antara 81.5-84.48%. Perbedaan suhu dan kelembaban udara yang relatif kecil tersebut tidak mengindikasikan adanya pengaruh terhadap perilaku pemilihan tempat bertengger di Gua Buni Ayu dan kisaran tersebut masih dalam kisaran normal bagi kelelawar untuk tetap bisa bertahan hidup.

Morphological and genetic study of the masked flying fox, Pteropus personatus; with a new subspecies description from Gag Island

The study on the specimens of Masked Flying Fox, Pteropus personatus from Gag and Moluccas Islands, Indonesia was conducted by using morphological and genetic analyses. Morphologically, the specimens from Gag are different from the other populations in Moluccas Islands by the smaller size of skull, dental and other external measurements. Based on the measurements of the specimens, the population from Gag Island is identified as P. personatus acityae n. subsp. The phylogenetic reconstruction based on partial cytochrome b sequences also support the differences between P. personatus acityae n. subsp and Pteropus personatus personatus. Thus, recently two subspecies of P. personatus are recognised from its distribution areas

Bat E-Commerce: Insights Into the Extent and Potential Implications of This Dark Trade

Little is known about the global bat souvenir trade despite previous research efforts into bat harvest for bushmeat. We screened eBay listings of bats in Australia, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom and USA to assess the nature and extent of the online offers. A total of 237 listings were retrieved in between the 11th and 25th of May 2020 with a median price per item of US$38.50 (range: US$8.50–2,500.00). Items on offer were mostly taxidermy (61.2%) or skull (21.1%) specimens. Overall, 32 different species of bat were advertised, most of which (n = 28) are listed as “Least Concern” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. One species (Nycteris javanica) is classified as “Vulnerable” and one (Eidolon helvum) as “Near Threatened.” Pteropus spp. specimens were the most expensive specimens on offer and the conservations status of these species may range from “Critically Endangered” to “Data Deficient” by IUCN and the entire genus is listed in the Appendix II by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). However, the exact species concerned, and their respective conservation status, could not be confirmed based on the listings' photos. The sourcing of bat was restricted to mostly South-East Asian countries (a third of items sourced from Indonesia) and to two African countries. Our survey revealed that the online offer of bat products is diverse, abundant, and facilitated by worldwide sellers although most offered bats species are from South-East Asia. With a few exceptions, the species on offer were of little present conservation concern, however, many unknowns remain on the potential animal welfare, biosecurity, legal implications, and most importantly public health risks associated with this dark trade

Exploring the vertebrate fauna of the Bird’s Head Peninsula (Indonesia, West Papua) through DNA barcodes

Biodiversity knowledge is widely heterogeneous across the Earth's biomes. Some areas, due to their remoteness and difficult access, present large taxonomic knowledge gaps. Mostly located in the tropics, these areas have frequently experienced a fast development of anthropogenic activities during the last decades and are therefore of high conservation concerns. The biodiversity hotspots of Southeast Asia exemplify the stakes faced by tropical countries. While the hotspots of Sundaland (Java, Sumatra, Borneo) and Wallacea (Sulawesi, Moluccas) have long attracted the attention of biologists and conservationists alike, extensive parts of the Sahul area, in particular the island of New Guinea, have been much less explored biologically. Here, we describe the results of a DNA-based inventory of aquatic and terrestrial vertebratecommunities, which was the objective of a multidisciplinary expedition to the Bird's Head Peninsula (West Papua, Indonesia) conducted between 17 October and 20 November 2014. This expedition resulted in the assembly of 1005 vertebrate DNA barcodes. Based on the use of multiple species-delimitation methods (GMYC, PTP, RESL, ABGD), 264 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) were delineated, among which 75 were unidentified and an additional 48 were considered cryptic. This study suggests that the diversity of vertebrates of the Bird's Head is severely underestimated and considerations on the evolutionary origin and taxonomic knowledge of these biotas are discussed.Fieldwork and laboratory activities were supported by the Lengguru 2014 Project (www.lengguru.org), conducted by the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) with the Research Centre for Biology (RCB), and the Politeknik KP Sorong, with the help of the Institut Français in Indonesia (IFI) and the French embassy in Jakarta, with corporate sponsorship from COLAS SA Company (Environment Department), Total Foundation, ABS, Wasco, Veolia Eau, SDV-Bolloré,Peer reviewe

Cryptic diversity and rapid radiation of Indo-Australasian bent-winged bats (Miniopterus Bonaparte, 1837)

Global biodiversity hotspots still contain undocumented vertebrate biodiversity. For mammals, most descriptions of new species now result from the discovery of cryptic forms when surveying new areas, or when resolving taxonomically problematic groups. Progress is restrained not only by the taxonomic impediment, but by gaps in geographic and taxonomic sampling, a legacy of available nomenclature from earlier taxonomy, and the availability of methods that provide sufficient resolution of species boundaries among cryptic taxa. Biodiversity hotspots such as Indo-Australasia, where biogeographic regions have been delineated based on patterns of faunal discontinuity, are ideal settings for investigating the mechanisms that produce the diversification of lineages. A conspicuous example with unresolved taxonomy, difficulty with identifications because of a lack of diagnostic morphological characters, and undescribed cryptic diversity are the bent-winged bats (Miniopteridae: Miniopterus), which have spread from the Palaearctic, through Southeast Asia and Indonesia to Australasia. Across this range it is typical to find more than one size-differentiated species in sympatry, and several species are regarded as having very broad ranges. A comprehensive study has not been attempted for the regional group with modern methods that have resolving power for speciation questions. Of particular interest is how this group diversified and radiated across islands and biogeographic barriers, and whether the overt level of morphological similarity within the group conceals an adaptive process. This study applied a multi-disciplinary approach based on extensive geographic and taxonomic sampling to assess the question What is the level of diversity within Indo- Australasian Miniopterus? The key strategy was to use genome-wide nuclear DNA markers to first identify the major lineages and test species boundaries among putative taxa, and then associate each with a geographic range, a morphological form using 3D geometric and classical morphometrics, and biogeographic history from a time tree derived from a mitochondrial DNA phylogeny and biogeographic analysis. Clear evidence of two distinct regional clades was present, separating the genus into Indo- Australasian and African-European lineages that diverged c. 9.71 mya in the mid-Miocene. One significant implication is that the apparently widespread M. schreibersii does not exist in Indo-Australasia. The ancestor of all Indo-Australasian Miniopterus diverged either within Wallacea, or both Wallacea and Sundaland, spreading eastwards to Australasia and westwards back from Wallacea. Recent rapid radiation of Miniopterus occurred during the late Pliocene to Pleistocene when ancestral forms crossed Huxley’s, Wallace’s and Lydekker’s lines of faunal discontinuity when sea levels were low. The three body size classes identified by Tate (1941) corresponded to four major genetic clades, with the smallest size class consisting of two major clades. Patterns of allometry from quantitative 3D shape analysis also showed four major groups based on skull shape that were concordant with the four major genetic clades, and suggestive of genus-level distinction. Furthermore, 29 distinct genetic lineages were identified, each a putative species. This effectively doubles the number of species identified based on past morphological analyses. Seventeen of those 29 taxa have available names based on previous descriptions and are currently listed species and sub species. The remainder are unnamed, and are either representative of synonymised names or taxa that are completely new to science. Shape analysis and traditional morphometrics showed concordant patterns with the genetic lineages, with divergent trajectories of skull shape development amongst genetic lineages. The complex contemporary pattern of sympatric distributions amongst Indo-Australasian Miniopterus is the result of the early divergence of the lineage into size-related genetic lineages and subsequent radiation that involved secondary contacts after completion of reproductive isolation. Amongst the many taxa there is evidence for allopatric speciation, incipient groups, one possible example of sympatric speciation on Java (a nexus point in this history of diversification where seven species now exist, with five in syntopy), and ecological speciation—suggesting a mixture of neutral and adaptive processes. While Miniopterus is relatively vagile, and, like Pteropus, has reached the eastern extremes of Australasia (South Australia) and Melanesia (New Caledonia), but unlike Pteropus a prerequisite for subsequent speciation was the crossing of lines of faunal discontinuity during periods of low sea level rather than over-water dispersal to remote land masses. There is still much to know about how sympatric Miniopterus partition themselves ecologically, and therefore whether speciation in at least some cases was the result of adaptive processes. This remarkable radiation will serve as an important comparator for future studies of bat diversification in the region.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Biological Sciences, 202

REVIEW- INDONESIAN FLYING FOXES: RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION STATUS UPDATE

Flying foxes are important ecological keystone species on many archipelagoes, and Indonesia is home to over a third of all flying fox species globally. However, the amount of research on this clade belies their importance to natural systems, particularly as they are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic development and hunting. Here, we provide a review of the literature since the publication of the Old World Fruit Bat Action Plan and categorize research priorities as high, medium, or low based on the number of studies conducted. A majority of the research priorities for Indonesian endemics are categorized as medium or high priority. Low priority ratings were in multiple categories for widespread flying fox species found throughout Southeast Asia, though much of the data were from outside of the Indonesian extent of the species range. These research gaps tend to highlight broader patterns of research biases towards western Indonesia, whereas significant research effort is still needed in eastern Indonesia, particularly for vulnerable island taxa

New records of Pteropus from Indonesia.

23 pages : color illustrations, map ; 26 cm.Bat species in the genus Pteropus (flying foxes) occur throughout most of Southeast Asia, but little is known about their distribution and patterns of local diversity across much of Indonesia. To help address this problem, a field survey of Pteropus species in Central and West Seram, Maluku Province, Indonesia, was conducted in 2012 and 2013. This study resulted in new records of rare Moluccan bats, including new locality records for four near-endemic species: P. chrysoproctus, P. melanopogon, P. ocularis, and P. temminckii. Together with data from additional specimens, these records provide new information about morphological variation in Moluccan Pteropus. High local diversity of large-bodied bats with restricted geographic ranges raises interesting questions about evolution in Pteropus and about ecological niche partitioning in Paleotropical pteropodid communities. More monitoring efforts in Maluku are needed, as the roosts located during the 2012-2013 survey are some of the only known sites where these species may be found, and none of these sites are located in protected areas. Without updated natural history data and taxonomic revision, proper management decisions cannot be made for any of these threatened species despite mounting anthropogenic pressure on their populations