A common name for the bat family Rhinonycteridae-the Trident Bats.
Recent elevation in the rank of J.E. Gray's (1866) 'Leaf-nosed Bats' the Rhinonycterina to family level recognised the phylogenetic uniqueness of bats in the extant genera Cloeotis, Paratriaenops, Rhinonicteris and Triaenops, and the fossil genera Brachipposideros and Brevipalatus (Foley et al. 2015). In the systematic summary of that paper, attention was drawn to the issue of correct nomenclature because of past ambiguity around the appropriate spelling of the type genus Rhinonicteris (see also Simmons 2005; Armstrong 2006). However, no suggestion was made for the common name of the Rhinonycteridae, and that used for the Hipposideridae was simply duplicated-'Old World Leaf-nosed Bats'. It would be helpful for this newly distinguished family to have its own appellation-to avoid unnecessary confusion in the wider literature, and to recognise its distinctiveness and evolutionary history.
Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity, University of Adelaide, South Australia 5005. South Australian Museum, Adelaide, South Australia 5000. Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605, USA.; Email: kyle.armstrong@adelaide.edu.au.
Kyle N
KN
Armstrong
Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605, USA. E-mail: Association Vahatra, BP 3972, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar.; Email: sgoodman@fieldmuseum.org.
Steven M
SM
Goodman
Department of Zoology, National Museum (Natural History), Vaclavske nam. 68, 115 79 Praha 1, Czech Republic.; Email: petr.benda@nm.cz.
Petr
P
Benda
PANGEA (Palaeontology, Geobiology and Earth Archives) Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Australia, Sydney, 2052.; Email: s.hand@unsw.edu.au.
Suzanne J
SJ
Hand
D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000145:classification*; D005580:Fossils