Future climatically suitable areas for bats in South Asia.

Climate change majorly impacts biodiversity in diverse regions across the world, including South Asia, a megadiverse area with heterogeneous climatic and vegetation regions. However, climate impacts on bats in this region are not well-studied, and it is unclear whether climate effects will follow patterns predicted in other regions. We address this by assessing projected near-future changes in climatically suitable areas for 110 bat species from South Asia.

Taxonomic status of the Lesser Woolly Horseshoe bats (Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae, Rhinolophus beddomei) in peninsular India and Sri Lanka.

Insularity provides ample opportunities for species diversification. Sri Lanka is home to a large diversity of species, many of which are endemic but morphologically similar to species found in southern India, due to recent speciation events, suggesting a complex evolutionary history. However, in some taxa although morphological diversity has been noted, the genetic level variations are minimal.

A new species of the Miniopterus australis species complex (Chiroptera: Miniopteridae) from the Western Ghats, India.

The genus Miniopterus is highly diverse in cryptic species. Based on integrated approaches of morphometrics, echolocation call analysis, and molecular phylogenetics, we present evidence of a hitherto undescribed species, Srini's Bent-winged bat Miniopterus srinii sp. nov.

Integrated approaches to identifying cryptic bat species in areas of high endemism: The case of Rhinolophus andamanensis in the Andaman Islands.

The diversity of bats worldwide includes large numbers of cryptic species, partly because divergence in acoustic traits such as echolocation calls are under stronger selection than differences in visual appearance in these nocturnal mammals. Island faunas often contain disproportionate numbers of endemic species, and hence we might expect cryptic, endemic species to be discovered relatively frequently in bats inhabiting islands. Species are best defined when multiple lines of evidence supports their diagnosis.

No longer supple? Molecular phylogeny suggests generic reassignment of Lygosoma ashwamedhi (Sharma, 1969) (Reptilia: Scincidae).

Morphometrics and phylogenetic analysis based on 12S and 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences reveal that Riopa ashwamedhi Sharma, 1969 is placed incorrectly in the genus Riopa or Lygosoma, and we transfer this taxon to the genus Eutropis. New material of this rare and endemic species forms the basis of the generic reassignment. A detailed description of E.

Taxonomic notes and distribution extension of Durga Das's leaf-nosed bat Hipposiderosdurgadasi Khajuria, 1970 (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) from south India.

Durga Das's leaf-nosed bat Hipposiderosdurgadasi Khajuria, 1970 is endemic to India, and was known only from Katanga, Katangi, and Richhai villages, in Jabalpur district, Madhya Pradesh. During surveys conducted in Kolar district, Karnataka, India, we successfully mist-netted a few individuals belonging to the bicolor species group which, upon detailed external, craniodental and bacular studies were identified as Durga Das's leaf-nosed bat. This paper reports the presence of this species in southern India, extending its distribution range by almost 1300 km.