TEM DIBAI (Krem)

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

An approximately 4.5 m wide and 1.5 m high but otherwise unspecified cave entrance (unidentified shape, unidentified orientation, unidentified characteristics) is said to give access to a relatively large system or cave with an active streamway (after Colin Rogers 2001.03.12 Mss: Notebook; Colin Rogers 2001.03.21 personal communication; Andrew -Andy- Peter Tyler 2001.05.02 Mss: Krem Temdebiah; Andrew -Andy- Peter Tyler 2001.10.11 personal correspondence). ETYMOLOGY: No specific name has been identified for the cave referred to by the name of it's location, the Twenty Cowrie [Shells] Valley (note 1), where the 20 c. have been spelled Dibai, Debai, Debiaa, and Debiah, and the name of the cave has been recorded as Tem-dibai Cave (THABAH et al. 2006: 120, 121) Krem Tem Debai (Tyler 2001.10.11 Mss), Krem Temdebiaa (Rogers 2001.03.21 MssKrem Temdebiah (Tyler 2001.05.02 Mss). SITUATION: Just before the cave is a giant forest tree (Rogers 2001.03.12 Mss) and this cave is [March 2000 and Marh 2003] located in a betel nut / Areca catechu) grove (THABAH et al. 2006: 120), which lies not only in an unspecified setting and at a disputable location (note 2) but also in an unspecified spatial relation near (sic!) to the village Sohbar (note 3). THABAH et al. (2006: 120), however, decided to confuse either a) the GPS position recorded for the cave entrance to Tem-dibai cave (note 4) with that for Krem –>Phrang Karuh, b) the caves themselves, or c) simply each and every interested person or party. APPROACH: If you wish (note 5), you may travel from Bholaganj (note 6) or Hat Majai and Majai (note 7) or about 4 km generally west along the border road towards Nongjri (note 8) up to a concrete bridge (note 9) across a certain Arli River (note 10). From the roadside Hindu shrine tiger temple (note 11) by the bridge, follow a masonry fitted stone path due north (note 12). Ignore the next little stone bridge over a stream and follow the path (trending 260°) along a dry left hand branch Relatively few forest tracks branch off but follow a so-called right-hand side (no direction mentioned) of a dry, bouldery, seasonal streambed (trending between 260° and 300°) without identified name (possibly the Bai or Dibai) to a bedding plane cave entrance at the head of the valley in a kind of limestone. CAVE DESCRIPTION: The 4.5 m wide and 1.5 m high cave entrance leads to 30 m of passage dropping to a streamway (on average 6 m wide and 2.5 m high) rising from a narrow slot in the back of a pool of swimming depth (sump?) at a distance of about 150 m west-south-west of the cave entrance. The stream follows the southern (orographically right, walking upstream left) wall across a sandy bed bordered by rocks and sand banks sloping down to the river. Near the very first -terminal- (?) pool a climb round a fallen slab is necessary. PROSPECTS: Good chance the cave can be pushed by swimming or diving (Tyler 2001.10.11 Mss). CAVE LIFE: Relatively large Tagenaria like spiders come out atnight and wild geckos can be seen on the rocks. Just before the cave is a giant forest tree and near its roots by old stumps of betel nut palm [Areca Catechu] is a saprophytic plant with little orange [coloured?] flowers, funnel shaped fungi, and even a Tradescanthia sp. in the undergrowth. Nasturtium. Large & small & very aggressive Hipposideros sp, a few Rhinolophidae sp and Lesser Horseshoe (Colin Rogers 2001.03.21 Mss). Key words: Chiroptera: Hipposideros sp. TABAH et al. (2006) studied the echolocation call frequency in intermdediate leaf-nosed bat (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae: Hipposideros larvatus s.l.) at Tem-dibai Cave and suspects a cryptic species as they emitted echolocation calls with bimodal distribution of peak frequencies, around either 85 kHz or 98 kHz. Individuals echolocating at 85 kHz had larger ears and longer forearms than those echolocating at 98 kHz, although no differences were detected in either wing morphology or diet, suggesting a limited resource partitionig. A comparison of mitochondrial control region haplotypes of the two phonic types with individuals sampled from across the Indo-Malay range supports the hypothesis that, in India, two cryptic species are present. The Indian 98 kHz phonic bats formed a monophyletic clade with bats from all other regional populations sampled, to the exclusion of the Indian 85 kHz bats. In India, the two forms showed 12-13% sequence divergence and we propose that the name Hipposideros khasiana for bats of the 85 kHz phonic type. Bats of the 98 kHz phonic type formed a monophyletic group with bats from Myanmar, and corresponded to Hipposideros grandis, which is suggested to be a species distinct from Hipposideros larvatus.night and wild geckos can be seen on the rocks. Just before the cave is a giant forest tree and near its roots by old stumps of betel nut palm [Areca Catechu] is a saprophytic plant with little orange [coloured?] flowers, funnel shaped fungi, and even a Tradescanthia sp. in the undergrowth. Nasturtium. Large & small & very aggressive Hipposideros sp, a few Rhinolophidae sp and Lesser Horseshoe (Colin Rogers 2001.03.21 Mss). Key words: Chiroptera: Hipposideros sp. TABAH et al. (2006) studied the echolocation call frequency in intermdediate leaf-nosed bat (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae: Hipposideros larvatus s.l.) at Tem-dibai Cave and suspects a cryptic species as they emitted echolocation calls with bimodal distribution of peak frequencies, around either 85 kHz or 98 kHz. Individuals echolocating at 85 kHz had larger ears and longer forearms than those echolocating at 98 kHz, although no differences were detected in either wing morphology or diet, suggesting a limited resource partitioninight and wild geckos can be seen on the rocks. Just before the cave is a giant forest tree and near its roots by old stumps of betel nut palm [Areca Catechu] is a saprophytic plant with little orange [coloured?] flowers, funnel shaped fungi, and even a Tradescanthia sp. in the undergrowth. Nasturtium. Large & small & very aggressive Hipposideros sp, a few Rhinolophidae sp and Lesser Horseshoe (Colin Rogers 2001.03.21 Mss). Key words: Chiroptera: Hipposideros sp. TABAH et al. (2006) studied the echolocation call frequency in intermdediate leaf-nosed bat (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae: Hipposideros larvatus s.l.) at Tem-dibai Cave and suspects a cryptic species as they emitted echolocation calls with bimodal distribution of peak frequencies, around either 85 kHz or 98 kHz. Individuals echolocating at 85 kHz had larger ears and longer forearms than those echolocating at 98 kHz, although no differences were detected in either wing morphology or diet, suggesting a limited resource partitioninight and wild geckos can be seen on the rocks. Just before the cave is a giant forest tree and near its roots by old stumps of betel nut palm [Areca Catechu] is a saprophytic plant with little orange [coloured?] flowers, funnel shaped fungi, and even a Tradescanthia sp. in the undergrowth. Nasturtium. Large & small & very aggressive Hipposideros sp, a few Rhinolophidae sp and Lesser Horseshoe (Colin Rogers 2001.03.21 Mss). Key words: Chiroptera: Hipposideros sp. TABAH et al. (2006) studied the echolocation call frequency in intermdediate leaf-nosed bat (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae: Hipposideros larvatus s.l.) at Tem-dibai Cave and suspects a cryptic species as they emitted echolocation calls with bimodal distribution of peak frequencies, around either 85 kHz or 98 kHz. Individuals echolocating at 85 kHz had larger ears and longer forearms than those echolocating at 98 kHz, although no differences were detected in either wing morphology or diet, suggesting a limited resource partitioninight and wild geckos can be seen on the rocks. Just before the cave is a giant forest tree and near its roots by old stumps of betel nut palm [Areca Catechu] is a saprophytic plant with little orange [coloured?] flowers, funnel shaped fungi, and even a Tradescanthia sp. in the undergrowth. Nasturtium. Large & small & very aggressive Hipposideros sp, a few Rhinolophidae sp and Lesser Horseshoe (Colin Rogers 2001.03.21 Mss). Key words: Chiroptera: Hipposideros sp. TABAH et al. (2006) studied the echolocation call frequency in intermdediate leaf-nosed bat (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae: Hipposideros larvatus s.l.) at Tem-dibai Cave and suspects a cryptic species as they emitted echolocation calls with bimodal distribution of peak frequencies, around either 85 kHz or 98 kHz. Individuals echolocating at 85 kHz had larger ears and longer forearms than those echolocating at 98 kHz, although no differences were detected in either wing morphology or diet, suggesting a limited resource partitionig. A comparison of mitochondrial control region haplotypes of the two phonic types with individuals sampled from across the Indo-Malay range supports the hypothesis that, in India, two cryptic species are present. The Indian 98 kHz phonic bats formed a monophyletic clade with bats from all other regional populations sampled, to the exclusion of the Indian 85 kHz bats. In India, the two forms showed 12-13% sequence divergence and we propose that the name Hipposideros khasiana for bats of the 85 kHz phonic type. Bats of the 98 kHz phonic type formed a monophyletic group with bats from Myanmar, and corresponded to Hipposideros grandis, which is suggested to be a species distinct from Hipposideros larvatus.