Morphological and radiographic studies on the skull of the straw-coloured fruit bat Eidolon helvum (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae)

Title: Morphological and radiographic studies on the skull of the straw-coloured fruit bat Eidolon helvum (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae)

Creators: Nadja Thier & Clara Stefen

Submitted July 7, 2020.
Accepted October 13, 2020.
Published online at www.senckenberg.de/vertebrate-zoology on October 30, 2020.
Published in print Q4/2020.

DOI: 10.26049/VZ70-4-2020-05
PDF/A 4.1 MB

Published by Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung

Date (Publication Year): 2020

Resource Type (General): TEXT

Resource Type (optional): Vertebrate Zoology, Scientific Article

Description (en): Although 20 % of the extant mammalians are chiropterans, there are only a few studies about their skull morphology. The aim of this work is to broaden the knowledge in this field by investigating Eidolon helvum skulls and describing their anatomical characters with a particular focus on general shape, sutures, foramina and processes. We study the external surface of the bones and make a detailed description of 6 rostral bones (nasal, premaxilla, maxilla, palatine, lacrimal, jugal), 9 cranial bones (frontal, parietal, interparietal, pterygoid, sphenoid complex, squamosal, petrosal, ectotympanic, occipital complex) and the mandible. We also make a radiographic analysis by taking X-ray images in lateral and dorsoventral direction. Comparisons with other bats like Pteropus lylei and Desmodus rotundus show interspecific variations. So this work helps building a solid basis for further phylogenetic, functional or systematic studies.

Key words: Description of individual skull bones, Eidolon, morphological, radiographic, subadult individuals.

Citation: Thier, N., Stefen, C. (2020). Morphological and radiographic studies on the skull of the straw-coloured fruit bat Eidolon helvum (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae). Vertebrate Zoology, 70(4): 587-600. https://doi.org/10.26049/VZ70-4-2020-05