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Studies on the Two New Zealand Bats

Material Examined and Acknowledgments

Material Examined and Acknowledgments

Eleven specimens of Mystacina were available for examination. These are itemized in Table I, in which the abbreviations D.M., A.M., C.M., and V.U.W. are used to indicate Dominion Museum, Auckland Museum, Canterbury Museum and Victoria University of Wellington collections respectively. I would like to thank Dr R. A. Falla, Dr G. Archey and Mr E. G. Turbott for making this material available, and Professor L. R. Richardson for his supervision and guidance throughout the study.

Mystacina tuberculata Gray 1843

Muzzle conical, obliquely truncated, with conspicuous array of stiffened hairs radiating from posterior margins of glandular eminences. Prominent nostrils opening sublaterally. Ears simple and extending well beyond the fur of the head; tragus long and attenuate. Fur close, grey to black. Coarse overhairs, with long distal thickening, scattered amongst short, wavy underhairs. Scale form entire to repand coronal. Robust forelimb; upper arm slightly less than 3/5 forearm length. Long metacarpals shorter than forearm. Second digit with single rudimentary phalanx Third digit with three bony phalanges. Cartilaginous tip of fifth digit extending beyond margin of chiropatagium. Wings from metacarpal of thumb and from ankles. Propatagium reduced and thickened. Plagiopatagium and uropatagium with numerous ridges on upper surface of proximal portions. Leg short and robust with large feet about 3/4 shank length. Basal talons present on the claws of toes and thumbs. Short tail perforating uropatagium. Weak calcars.

Mystacina tuberculata tuberculata Gray (Figs. C. E.)

Range: North Island, N.Z., and at least northern areas of the South Island.

A small delicately proportioned bat characterised by the length of the ears, which reach to or beyond the tip of the muzzle, and by the remarkably prominent, though narrow, nostrils. Total length up to about 75 mm, wing span to about 280 mm. Gray's plate (1844, PI. 22) illustrated an animal clearly of the northern subspecies which has been named accordingly.

Mystacina tuberculata robusta subsp. nov. (Figs. A. B, D.)

Range: Only known from the Stewart Island region, N.Z.

In contrast to the northern subspecies this animal is larger and extremely robust. page 4Total length is up to about 90 mm, wing span to about 310 mm. It has the ears falling short of the muzzle tip, and has the wide nostrils lying relatively closer against the muzzle.

Type. Male from Big South Cape Island, Dominion Museum Specimen 1083.

Mystacina tuberculata

Mystacina tuberculata

Fig. A, M. t. robusta, dorsal. Fig. B, Head of M. t. robusta, lateral. Fig. C, Head of M. t. tuberculata, lateral. Fig., D, Head of M. t. robusta, ventral. Fig. E, Head of M. t. tuberculata, ventral.