A new species of Miniopterus (Chiroptera: Miniopteridae) from lowland southeastern Madagascar

Based on morphological, mensural and molecular characters, a new species of bat of the genus Miniopterus is described from Madagascar, M. petersoni. While showing some morphological convergence to the recently named M. sororculus, the species described herein possesses a number of external and cranial characters that separates the two. Further, molecular data indicate that these two taxa are not closely related and are from different portions of the Miniopterus clade. Based on current information, M. petersoni appears to have a distribution in the southeastern portion of Madagascar associated with littoral, lowland and transitional humid-dry forest formations. Populations in the far north of its range, at Montagne d’Ambre in the lower end of montane forest and near Maroantsetra in a lowland zone, are tentatively assigned to M. petersoni.