Bats in the Maldives: a review of historical data and first record of a vagrant Long-winged Tomb Bat (Emballonuridae: Taphozous longimanus)

Abstract

The Maldives is a country made up entirely of coral atolls with very limited terrestrial habitat diversity and only one known resident bat species: the Maldivian Flying Fox, Pteropus medius ariel. Here we report the first confirmed record of any insectivorous bat from the Maldives: a single bat that flew on board a boat off Raa Atoll in the north of Maldives on 13 February 2019. Wind trajectory analysis suggests that it had flown from Kerala, south India. From photos and morphometric estimates, we could identify it as a Long-winged Tomb Bat Taphozous longimanus. Reports of Flying Foxes from the Maldives (P. medius ariel and P. hypomelanus maris) are also reviewed. The former is widespread and common, while the latter is known only from a single disputed and now apparently missing specimen.