REVISION OF AUSTRALIAN EPTESICUS (MICROCHIROPTERA VESPERTILIONIDAE)

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 10 years ago

Abstract
A classical morphological approach has been used to clarify the taxonomy of Australian Eptesicus. Multivariate analyses of 37 morphological measurements were undertaken to determine the phenetic relationships between the nine species recognised in this study: E. pumilus (Gray, 1841); E. caurinus Thomas, 1914; E. douglasorum Kitchener, 1976; E. finlaysoni sp. nov.; E. darlingtoni Allen, 1933; E. troughtoni sp. nov.; E. regulus (Thomas, 1906); E. vulturnus Thomas, 1914 and E. baverstocki sp. nov.

In Australian Eptesicus there are two broad phenetic groups. The first includes those species with a northern or inland distribution; the second those with a southern or inland distribution.