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Ecology, management and conservation in natural and modified habitats
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 36(6)

Shedding new light on old species identifications: morphological and genetic evidence suggest a need for conservation status review of the critically endangered bat, Saccolaimus saccolaimus

Damian J. Milne A C , Felicity C. Jackling B , Manpreet Sidhu B and Belinda R. Appleton B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Biodiversity Conservation Division, Department of Natural Resources, Environment the Arts and Sports, PO Box 496, Palmerston, NT 0831, Australia.

B The Department of Genetics, The University of Melbourne, Vic. 3010, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: damian.milne@nt.gov.au

Wildlife Research 36(6) 496-508 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR08165
Submitted: 8 November 2008  Accepted: 16 June 2009   Published: 29 September 2009

Abstract

Information based on the accurate identification of species is a vital component for achieving successful outcomes of biodiversity conservation and management. It is difficult to manage species that are poorly known or that are misidentified with other similar species. This is particularly problematic for rare and threatened species. Species that are listed under endangered species classification schemes need to be identified accurately and categorised correctly so that conservation efforts are appropriately allocated. In Australia, the emballonurid Saccolaimus saccolaimus is currently listed as ‘Critically Endangered’. On the basis of new observations and existing museum specimens, we used a combination of genetic (mitochondrial DNA sequence) and morphological (pelage characteristics, dig III : phalanx I length ratio, inter-upper canine distance) analyses to identify six new geographic records for S. saccolaimus, comprising ~100 individuals. Our analyses also suggested that there are likely to be more records in museum collections misidentified as S. flaviventris specimens. The external morphological similarities to S. flaviventris were addressed and genetic, morphological and echolocation analyses were used in an attempt to provide diagnostic characters that can be used to readily identify the two species in the field. We recommend genetic testing of all museum specimens of Australian Saccolaimus to clarify species’ distributions and provide data for reassessing the conservation status for both S. saccolaimus and S. flaviventris. Museum curators, taxonomists and wildlife managers need to be aware of potential species misidentifications, both in the field and laboratory. Misidentifications that result in misclassification of both threatened and non-threatened species can have significant implications.


Acknowledgements

We thank Chaz Delacoeur and Martin Armstrong for their assistance in the field as well as Paul Horner and Gavin Dally from the Northern Territory Museum for all of their support. We are indebted to Heather Janetzki for providing the specimen tissue, measurements and other data from the Queensland Museum as well as Chris Pavey, Andrea Taylor, John Woinarski and two anonymous referees for providing valuable comments on the manuscript. Stephen Cutter and Lisa Hanson provided some of the specimens. We especially thank Kerry Turner for her rescue efforts and dedication to the care of the injured and orphaned bats from the colony at Howard Springs as well as providing several observations reported here. All animal-sampling procedures were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of the Northern Territory University (Reference A02001).


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