Phyllorhina taitiensis Fitzinger, 1869

Turni, Hendrik & Kock, Dieter, 2008, Type specimens of bats (Chiroptera: Mammalia) in the collections of the Museum f r Naturkunde, Berlin, Zootaxa 1869 (1), pp. 1-82 : 39

Phyllorhina taitiensis Fitzinger, 1869

Fitzinger, L.J. (1861) Die Ausbeute der österreichischen Naturforscher an Säugethieren und Reptilien während der Weltumsegelung Seiner Majestät Fregatte Novara. Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Bd. 42, 391 [383–416]. Nomen nudum. Description in: Fitzinger, L.J. (1869) Kritische Durchsicht der Ordnung der Flatterthiere oder Handflügler ( Chiroptera ). Familie der Kammnasen (Rhinolophi). I.Abt. Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Bd. 60, 865 [823–890].

Valid name: Hipposideros speoris (Schneider, 1800)

Syntype: ZMB 3260 , body in alcohol, skull extracted, male; according to a catalogue entry from “Taiti” [Tahiti]; collected by Zelebor, 1859, ex NMW.

Comment: Phyllorhina taitiensis Fitzinger was treated by Zelebor (1868: 13) as a variation of Phyllorhina speoris Schneider. The locality is specified by Fitzinger (1869: 866): “ Australien, Gesellschafts-Inseln, Taiti, von wo Frauenfeld diese Art gebracht [ Australia, Society Islands, Tahiti, collected by von Frauenfeld]”. Zelebor did not arrive in Tahiti until 28 January 1859, where he allegedly collected three old specimens. However, Tahiti is located well outside the known distribution range of the genus Hipposideros . Dobson (1877: 121) already wrote: “we are not absolutely certain that the specimen ... was really obtained at the Island of Tahiti.” The type locality may be similar to Tahiti Island, but is most probably Ceylon (= Sri Lanka), Madras in SE- India or Nicobar Ids.