A New Species Of Stripe-Faced Fruit Bat discovered in The Philippines

24/02/2007 00:00:00 For the past century, the genus Styloctenium Matschie has been known to contain a single species restricted to Sulawesi and the nearby Togian Islands. However now a new species of Styloctenium has been described from Mindoro Island in the Philippines. It is known only from the type locality in western Mindoro Island, and is hunted, along with other large fruit bats, so may be at risk of extinction because of habitat loss, hunting, or both.

In February 2006, approximately 1,200 km north of the known distribution of Styloctenium, JACOB A. ESSELSTYN of the Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Research Centre and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology of the University of Kansas, collected 4 specimens of a midsized flying fox (pteropodid) with distinctive facial markings and unusual teeth.

Specimens of the new species were collected in mist nets between an open field with a few fruit trees and selectively logged lowland forest

Distribution.
The species is known only from the type locality, but probably occurs more broadly on Mindoro Island, perhaps in areas which retain lowland forest.

Endemic species
The presence of a midsized, conspicuously coloured, undescribed mammal on Mindoro emphasizes the need for further biodiversity inventories and specimen collection in the region, and on Mindoro in particular.

Currently, 42 species of native terrestrial mammals are known from Mindoro, and 8 of these are endemic to the island. These figures will almost certainly increase as new collections are made. New species are being discovered in the Philippines and neighbouring areas at a remarkable rate, and this pattern shows no sign of slowing. However Mindoro has suffered extensive deforestation and several species endemic to the island are threatened with extinction

The new species was described in the August 2007 issue of the Journal of Mammalogy.

Courtesy of JACOB A. ESSELSTYN of the Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Research Centre and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology of the University of Kansas.