Révision taxinomique des Triaenops malgaches (Mammalia, Chiroptera, Hipposideridae)

Three different species of Triaenops Dobson, 1871 are often recognized as occurring on Madagascar: T. rufus A. Milne-Edwards, 1881, T. furculus Trouessart, 1906, and T. auritus G. Grandidier, 1912. Another named species, T. humbloti A. Milne-Edwards, 1881, is generally considered a synonym of T. rufus. Further, several authors have treated T. auritus as a synonym of T. furculus. The holotype of T. furculus was obtained near Sarodrano in the extreme southwest, T. auritus in the general vicinity of Diégo-Suarez (= Antsiranana), and T. rufus in the east. Using recent collections of 145 T. furculus and 115 T. rufus specimens from 15 different sites in the drier portions of Madagascar we conducted a detailed morphometric study (9 external, 13 cranial, 12 dental and 11 wing measurements) to assess patterns of geographic variation in members of this genus. The results indicate that T. auritus is distinct from T. furculus and occurs in the northern and northwestern portion of the island. Triaenops furculus is limited to the drier forest formations of the west central and southwest. Triaenops rufus shows no notable patterns of geographic variation across its broad range in the drier portions of the island.