Thesis (BS Biology) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, 2008

Family Emballonuridae is morphometrically a homogenous group with scanty information regarding their morphometrics especially the Philippine samples which made them difficult to identify up to the species level. Morphological and mensural characterization of Saccolaimus and Taphozous melanopogon captured in Davao City were performed to determine their relationship. Moreover, the genetic distance of the samples including emballonurids found in literatures were included to depict their relatedness. The xamination of the external morphology showed that all of the S. saccolaimus and T. melanopogon were adult. The color of T. melanopogonsamples was the same and their sizes are almost similar. However, the two S. saccolaimus samples were different in size and color. The two species have the same characteristics of the eyes, ears, snout, tongue, lungs, tail, tail membrane and calcar, but they differ in the presence of a grandular sac (which is present in T. melanopogon). Dental and cranial morphological examination also showed that T. melanopogon and s. saccolaimus have identical similar morphology in premaxillaries, hard palate, angular process, teeth, cochlea, ectotympanic, epitympanic recess, infraorbital canal and postorbital process. The skull morphology of S. saccolaimus have pinted and sharp external occipital protuberance, which is differential with T. melanopogon having blunt characteristic. The overall mensural trait of S. saccolaimus and T. melanopogon in this study is found within the same cluster in the dendrogram. However, t. melanopogon in Davao City did not share with the same cluster in the clade shared by T. melanopogon found in other countries, including other species of Taphozous. Based on this investigation, obtaining the mensural traits and examining the skull are important parameters to quantify the difference of a homogenous group within the family