Records of the Western Australian Museum 17 : 213-220 ( 1995 ). 
Morphological variation in Bearded Tomb Bats (Taphozous) in Maluku 
Tenggara and Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia 
D.J. Kitchener 1 and A. Suyanto 2 
' Western Australian Museum, Francis Street, Perth, Western Australia 6000 
2 Balitbang Zoologi, LIPI, Jalan Ir. H. Juanda 9, Bogor, Indonesia 16122 
Abstract - Bearded Tomb Bats, Taphozous melanopogon and T. achates, were 
recently collected on Wetar, Tanimbar and Kai Islands, eastern Indonesia. 
Morphological comparisons of skull, dentary, dental and external 
characters and a univariate and multivariate statistical analyses of 138 
specimens, indicated that the animals from Wetar Island were T. a. achates. 
Those from the Tanimbar and Kai Islands were morphologically distinct 
from both T. melanopogon and T. a. achates, but were closer to the latter taxon. 
They are herein described as a new subspecies of T. achates, T. achates minor. 
INTRODUCTION 
An earlier study of the morphological variation 
of Bearded Tomb Bats in Nusa Tenggara, 
Indonesia, by Kitchener et al. (1993a) recognised 
the occurrence in that region of two species, 
Taphozous m. melanopogon Temminck, 1841 and T. 
achates Thomas, 1915. The former was found on 
islands in the Inner Banda Arc (Lombok, 
Sumbawa, Moyo and Alor), as well as Timor in the 
Outer Banda Arc. Koopman and Gordon (1992) 
also report that a specimen of T. melanopogon exists 
in the American Museum of Natural History from 
Kei (= Kai) Island. Taphozous achates occurred only 
on islands in the Outer Banda Arc (Savu, Roti and 
Semau and possibly also on Timor). 
Kitchener et al. (1993a) noted that while there was 
little morphological differentiation in T. m. 
melanopogon among islands in Nusa Tenggara, 
there appeared to be some differentiation among 
populations of T. achates. These authors suggest 
that T. m. melanopogon is Laurasian in origin and 
may be a relatively recent inhabitant of Nusa 
Tenggara and speculate that "T. achates alone will 
be found to occur on the smaller Gondwanic 
islands such as Leti, Babar, Tanimbar, Kei (= Kai) 
and Aru". The recent collection of Bearded Tomb 
Bats from Wetar, Tanimbar and Kai Islands by staff 
from the Western Australian Museum and 
Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense allows for this 
speculation to be examined. 
Recent studies on morphological variation (and 
in some cases of genetic variation) have shown a 
tendency for some species of bats that are widely 
distributed in Nusa Tenggara and Maluku 
Tenggara to differentiate morphologically in the 
southeastern parts of these provinces, where the 
islands in the Inner and Outer Banda Arcs become 
more isolated from the other islands in these areas 
(Kitchener and Maryanto 1993; Kitchener et al. 
1993b; 1995a,b). 
This paper will describe the morphological 
variation of the Bearded Tomb Bats from the 
southern region of Maluku Tenggara and report on 
the taxonomic status of these bats. 
MATERIAL AND METHODS 
Measurements from 111 adult specimens used in 
the previous analysis of morphological variation in 
Taphozous in this region presented in Kitchener et 
al. (1993a) were combined with measurements 
from an additional 33 adult specimens from Wetar 
Island (9), Kai Besar Island (12) and Selaru Island, 
Tanimbar Group (12) for statistical analysis. The 
measurements recorded were the same as those 
documented in that previous study. However, 
palate length in both this and the previous study 
was measured from the posterior margin of the 
palate to the posterior margin of the anterior 
palatal incisor, and not to the anterior edge of the 
C 1 alveoli as figured in Kitchener et al. (1993a: 
figure 1). 
The measurements were as follows: GSL, greatest 
skull length; IOW, least interorbital breadth; POW, 
postorbital breadth; CW, cranial breadth; MW, 
mastoid width; ZW, zygomatic width; PPL, post 
palatal length; PL, palatal length; DBC, distance 
between cochleae; BL, bulla length; GBPL, greatest 
basial pit length, DL, dentary length; C 2 BW, C 1 
basal breadth; C'C'B, width across C'C 1 labial 
surfaces at alveoli; M 3 M 3 B, width across M 3 M 3 
labial surfaces at alveoli; C'M 3 L, maxillary tooth 
row length, from C'alveoli anterior edge to M 3 
alveoli posterior edge; M 2 L, M 2 crown length; M 2 W, 
