Abstract
A rare species of free-tailed bat, Tadarida latouchei, was found on Kuchinoerabu-jima Island of the Osumi group, northern Ryukyu Islands, Japan; the second record of the species from Japan. In addition to the description of the newly collected specimen, we examined relationships among this species and two other closely related species, T. insignis and T. teniotis, on the basis of univariate and multivariate analyses of morphometric characters. External and skull characters, with the exception of tail and tibia lengths, showed no substantial range overlap between T. latouchei and T. insignis or T. teniotis, and these characters in T. latouchei were significantly smaller than those in either T. insignis or T. teniotis, confirming T. latouchei's independence at the specific level. This view is supported further by its relatively short dorsal hairs, thin and roundish ear and large upper anterior premolar.
