A new record of the rare Hardwicke’s Woolly Bat Kerivoula hardwickii (Horsefield, 1824) (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) after 23 years from a lowland rainforest of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Distribution of Kerivoula hardwickii, Hardwicke’s Woolly Bat, in Sri Lanka is restricted to the central highlands and to the northeastern region of the country, and so far, only recorded from four distinct locations. In Sri Lanka, this species was last documented in the year 1994 and no subsequent surveys recorded this species in Sri Lanka, thus considered rare in Sri Lanka. In contrast, within its South Asian biogeography, K. hardwickii is widely distributed, particularly in Southeast Asia. In this study, a single male of K. hardwickii was observed in lowland rainforest ecoregion of Sri Lanka near Labugama- Kalatuwana Forest Reserve where the bat was roosting on a curled live banana frond. The bat was roosting 1.8m above the ground. This was the first instance K. hardwickii recorded in the lowland rainforests of Sri Lanka, which extends this species’ biogeography of Sri Lanka into the lowland wet zone. Thus, distribution range of K. hardwickii in Sri Lanka could be broader than historically documented. Intensive surveys, particularly in lowland rainforest regions, are required to validate the true distribution of this bat in Sri Lanka.