Description of a New Species of the GenusAselliscus(Chiroptera, Hipposideridae) from Vietnam

Trident bats found in mainland Southeast Asia are currently subsumed into a single species, Aselliscus stoliczkanus. In this study, we examined morphological and genetic data from different populations from Southeast Asia, with a special focus on specimens from Vietnam. Our analyses support the existence of a further species of Aselliscus in northeastern Vietnam that separated from A. stoliczkanus sensu lato (s.l.) during the late Miocene. Within the latter taxon, we identified five geographic lineages that diverged from each other during the Plio-Pleistocene epoch. Some of them may also correspond to further separate taxa, but additional molecular and morphological data are needed to test this hypothesis. Herewith, based on the combined evidences we describe the northeastern Vietnamese population as a separate species.