Murina florium, Thomas, 1908

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Vespertilionidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 716-981 : 916

351.

Flores Tube-nosed Bat

Murina florium

French: Murine de Florés / German: Flores-Rohrennase / Spanish: Ratonero narizudo de Flores

Other common names: Flute-nosed Bat, Tube-nosed Insectivorous Bat

Taxonomy. Murina florium Thomas, 1908 ,

“ Flores,” Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia.

Murina florium appears to be related to M. swilla, M. walstoni , and M. aenea based on very limited genetic data. Three subspecies have been named (nominotypical, lanosa , and toxopei), but they are not recognized here pending additional studies. Monotypic.

Distribution. N & SE Sulawesi (including Peleng, Buton, and Kabaena Is), Lesser Sundas (Sumbawa, Flores Is), Moluccas (Bacan, Buru, Ambon, Seram Is), Gorong I, scattered localities in New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago (New Britain, Umboi Is), along with NE Australia (NE Queensland, N to Iran Range and S between Shiptons Flat-Cedar Bay area and Mt Zero near Paluma).

Descriptive notes. Head—body 38-56- 5 mm, tail 30-639 mm, ear 10- 5—14 mm, hindfoot 7- 6-9 mm, forearm 32-2-37- 1 mm; weight 4-3-10- 9 g. Fur long and woolly. Dorsal pelage is gray-brown to orange rufous brown (hairs with darkto light gray bases); venter is paler (hairs with dark bases). Dorsal pelage extends sparsely onto wings, uropatagium, thumbs, and feet. Face is sparsely haired except for long protuberant naked nostrils. Ears are short, broad, and rounded, with smoothly convex anterior margins, distinct notch on posterior margins, and broadly rounded tips; tragusis long and narrow and tapers toward pointed tip. Wing attaches near base of claw on first toe. Skull is robust, I? is taller than I’, upper premolars are similar in size, and mesostyles of M' and M* are well developed.

Habitat. Various tropical moist forests, including upland and lowland tropical rainforests with eucalypt understories ( Australia), dry and wet sclerophyll woodlands, and disturbed forests from sea level up to elevations of ¢. 2800 m (generally more common at high elevations).

Food and Feeding. Flores Tube-nosed Bats forage in subcanopies and canopies, avoiding open areas. They are slow and maneuverablefliers and can hover in flight. While flying and foraging, they make drawn-out, loud, high-pitched whistles. Based on fecal analysis, diet consists of mostly beetles and spiders, with trace amounts of moths and flies, indicative of a gleaning foraging style.

Breeding. Births of Flores Tube-nosed Bats most likely occur in October-November in Australia because lactating and post-lactating females have been caught in December. Males with enlarged testes have been caught in December in Australia.

Activity patterns. Flores Tube-nosed Bats emerge from roosts at dusk to forage through the night. They hover briefly under their roosts before flying off. They typically roost under and among dead leaves or other foliage such as the curled dead bases of epiphytes,tree ferns, palm fronds, and abandoned nests of Australian warblers (e.g. fernwren, Oreoscopus gutturalis, and yellow-throated scrubwren, Sericornis citreogularis) but can occasionally be found in caves or abandoned buildings. One individual roosted in a nest of a sacred kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus), which was in a termite mount in a tree. When roosting in foliage, they usually roost 1-8 m aboveground. Some individuals that were released during the day landed on broad leaves and wrapped leaves around them, holding leaves in position using their feet and thumb claws. Calls are low intensity steep FM sweeps, with short durations of 1-5-2 milliseconds and frequencies of ¢.60-120 kHz. These types of calls are effective at detecting sophisticated textures, allowing an individual to see stationary prey in cluttered environments. Unlike in many other echolocating bats, olfactory area of the brain of the Flores Tube-nosed Batis large, and large nostrils likely permit strong sense of smell, although this is uncertain in the genus Munna.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Flores Tube-nosed Bat almost always roosts alone, with more than 80% of Australian roosts occupied by one individual. It can be found in small groups of up to a dozen individuals. It switches roosts often and will stay at the same roost for up to four days before moving to a new roost from a few meters to 1 km away. It might return to the same roost after a few days. It is found at low densities (20-30 ind/km?).

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Flores Tube-nosed Bat is widespread but generally uncommon. In New Guinea, only eight specimens were collected between 1959 and 1990, and it was first discovered in Australia in the early 1980s. It does not currently face any major threats, but it might be locally threatened in Sulawesi by forest clearing and agroforestry. The Flores Tube-nosed Bat is poorly known, and additional studies on its ecology and threats are needed.

Bibliography. Bonaccorso (1998), Churchill (2008), Clague (2000), Clague et al. (1999), Corbet & Hill (1992), Csorba et al. (2011), Flannery (1995a, 1995b), Hill & Rozendaal (1989), Hutson, Schlitter, Csorba, Bonaccorso & Hall (2008), Koopman & Danforth (1989), Kutt & Schulz (2000), Ouwendijk et al. (2014), Patterson et al. (2017), Richards et al. (1982), Schulz (1998a), Schulz & Hannah (1996, 1998), Schulz et al. (2008), Van Deusen (1961), Zeng Xiang et al. (2018).

Figures

348. Annam Tube-nosed Bat (Murina annamitica), 349. Walston’s Tube-nosed Bat (Murina walstoni), 350. Brown Tube-nosed Bat (Murina suilla), 351. Flores Tube-nosed Bat (Murina florium), 352. Bronze Tube-nosed Bat (Munrina aenea), 353. Scully’s Tube-nosed Bat (Murina tubinaris), 354. Fiona’s Tube-nosed Bat (Murina fionae), 355. Guillen’s Tube-nosed Bat (Murina guilleni), 356. Round-eared Tube-nosed Bat (Murina cyclotis), 357. Peninsular Tube-nosed Bat (Murina perunsulars), 358. Libo Tube-nosed Bat (Murina liboensis), 359. Kon Tum Tube-nosed Bat (Murina kontumensis), 360. Hkakabo Razi Tube-nosed Bat (Murina hkakaboraziensis), 361. Gilded Tube-nosed Bat (Murina rozendaali), 362. Elery’s Tube-nosed Bat (Murina eleryi), 363. Bala Tube-nosed Bat (Murina balaensis), 364. Hidden Tube-nosed Bat (Murina recondita), 365. Gracile Tube-nosed Bat (Murina gracilis)

Distribution. N & SE Sulawesi (including Peleng, Buton, and Kabaena Is), Lesser Sundas (Sumbawa, Flores Is), Moluccas (Bacan, Buru, Ambon , Seram Is), Gorong I, scattered localities in New Guinea , Bismarck Archipelago (New Britain, Umboi Is), along with NE Australia (NE Queensland, N to Iran Range and S between Shiptons Flat-Cedar Bay area and Mt Zero near Paluma).