A Key to the Bats of the Philippine Islands
Nina R. Ingle and Lawrence R. Heaney
Abstract
An identification guide is presented for the six families and 70 species of bats now known
from the Philippine Islands, based on a key and a set of standardized measurements. Most
critical characters are illustrated, and detailed drawings are provided of the skulls of 42 species.
Introduction
The Philippine Islands (fig. 1) support a large
and diverse fauna of mammals: over 1 70 species
are now known, compared, for example, to the
105 species known from Madagascar, which has
nearly twice the land area (Heaney et al., 1987;
Jenkins, 1987). About 100 species are endemic to
the Philippines, giving the country an unusually
high number and percentage of unique species
(HaugeetaL, 1986; Heaney, 1986, 1991; Heaney
et al., 1987; Koopman, 1989).
One of the most diverse and, in general, poorly
known mammalian orders in the Philippines is
the Chiroptera. Sixty-eight species of bats were
known from the Philippines when the last checklist
was prepared (Heaney et al., 1987), and two more
are now known (Pteropus dasymallus and Harpi-
ocephalus harpia). In number of species, bats ex-
ceed even rodents, of which 67 are now known
(Heaney et al., 1987; Musser and Heaney, 1992).
By our best estimate, 22 species of bats, about
31%, are endemic to the Philippines, again an un-
usually high number (Heaney, 1991; Koopman,
1989).
The high levels of species richness and ende-
mism are factors of special importance currently
because of the rapid rate of loss of natural habitat
in the Philippines. Roughly 94% of the Philippine
land area was once covered by forest; that figure
had been reduced to 40% at the end of World War
II, and current estimates of forest cover range from
25% to less than 20%, depending in part on the
amount of degraded forest that is included (Col-
lins, 1990; Hauge et al., 1986; Myers, 1988; Ut-
zurrum, 1991). The ongoing forest destruction
poses an especially grave problem because many
species of bats, especially endemics, depend pri-
marily on forest (Heaney et al., 1987; Heaney and
Utzurrum, 1991; Heideman and Heaney, 1989).
Two species of bats (Acerodon lucifer and Dob-
sonia chapmani) are believed to have become ex-
tinct in the last 100 years, and many others are
threatened (Heaney and Heideman, 1987; Heaney
etal., 1987).
No identification guide to the 70 species of bats
recorded from the Philippines currently exists. The
most recent work describing Philippine bats, Tay-
lor's "Philippine Land Mammals", was published
in 1934 and does not include the many species
subsequently described or recorded from the Phil-
ippines, nor does it reflect the many changes in
taxonomy that have taken place over nearly 60
years. Moreover, Taylor's keys were intended for
use with museum study specimens, not live ani-
mals in the field. Thus, identification of Philippine
bats in recent years has been primarily by com-
parison with museum specimens. This requires
access to a comprehensive reference collection and
is not an option for researchers in many places.
This key is intended to permit identification of
all bat species that have been recorded from the
Philippines, to the extent that current knowledge
permits. It is our hope that this key will encourage
more research on the Philippine bat fauna, which,
with its diversity and distribution over many is-
lands with differing habitats and climates, serves
as an excellent subject for studies of biogeography
and many aspects of ecology. We also hope that a
greater knowledge about Philippine bats will con-
tribute to efforts toward their conservation.
FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, N.S., NO. 69, OCTOBER 30, 1992, PP. 1^4
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