MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATION IN PTEROPUS IOMBOCENSIS (CHIROPTERA PTEROPODIDAE) IN NUSA TENGGARA, INDONESIA

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 1 decade ago

Abstract - Recent terrestrial vertebrate faunal surveys in Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, collected specimens of Pteropus lombocensis from islands from which the species had not previously been reported (Sumbawa, Lembata and Pantar), as well as from Lombok, Flores and Alor Islands. A univariate and multivariate statistical analysis of 28 morphological (skull dentary, dental and external) characters showed that adult P. lombocensis was not sexually dimorphic, but that significant variation occurred, particularly in dental characters, between the island populations. Two subspecies are recognised in P. lombocensis. These are the western form, P.l. lombocensis Dobson, 1878 (Lombok and Sumbawa Islands), and the eastern form, P. l. heudei Matschie, 1899 (Flores, Lembata, Pantar and Alar).