(Blyth, 1851)
Harlequin bat
External characters (Table 77)
This is a medium-sized bat with an average forearm length of 58.8 mm (56.1-61.2 mm). The pelage is characteristically coloured with the head, back and flanks essentially orange to orange-brown but with a mixture of paler hairs (to a greater or lesser extent) and an intermittent frosting with tufts of pure white hairs; these sometimes coalesce to form a white line down the middle of the back (Sor3). The belly is a complex mixture of dark brown and creamy white hairs; in general the paler hairs predominate. The tail and wing membranes are uniformly dark brown and essentially naked. The feet are black and about half the length of the tibiae. The face is naked apart from the whiskers on the muzzle. The nostrils are round, simple in form and face slightly outwards. The ears are large (Sor2); each with an evenly convex anterior border and a broadly rounded tip; they are brown and naked on both surfaces. The tragus of each ear is about one third to a half the length of the pinna; it is broad and crescent-shaped. The baculum is very small. It is triangular in shape with a simple tip and a bilobate base (Fig. 163).
Cranial characters
The skull is robust (Fig. 164), with an average condylo-canine length of 20.4 mm (20.1-20.9 mm). The rostrum is very broad; its upper surface has a slight depression anterior to the bifurcation of the well developed sagittal crest. The supraorbital ridges and lachrymal processes are prominent. The lambdoid crests are also conspicuous and the lambda forms the most posterior part of skull. The braincase is distinctly less elevated than that of S. heathii , especially when viewed from behind. The zygomata are strong and widely flared outwards; they are broadest posteriorly. The anterior palatal emargination is small, narrow and only extends backwards to the mid-part of the canine. In S. heathii , it is large, broad (She1) and extends back to the mid-part of the first upper premolar (PM4). The tympanic bullae are small and in consequence the basioccipital is broad. The coronoid process of each half mandible is relatively massive and broadly rounded-off above; the angular process is small in comparison (Fig. 164).
Dentition
The dentition is robust but the teeth are reduced in number (Fig. 165).
- Upper toothrow length (C-M3) averages 8.2 mm (7.8-8.5 mm). The single upper incisor is relatively large; it has a well defined cingular cusp posteriorly. It is not in contact with the broad canine which is without secondary cusps but has a well developed cingulum. The small upper premolar (PM2) is absent. The upper premolar (PM4) is large; two-thirds the crown area of the canine. M1 and M2 are about equal in size; both have a well developed metacone. M3 is greatly reduced, with the metacone essentially absent.
- In the mandibular dentition, there are three lower incisors which are compressed and over-lapping; the third (i3) is in contact with the lower canine. There are two lower premolars; the first (pm2) is two-thirds the crown area and about half the height of the second (pm4). m-2 slightly exceeds m1 in crown area; both have the talonid broader than the trigonid. The talonid of m3 is greatly reduced.
Variation
The taxon emarginatus was considered a distinct species by Sinha and Chakraborty, 1971 but was included in ornatus by Corbet and Hill, 1992. The taxon imbrensis is included as a synonym of ornatus by Das et al. , 1995.