Miniopterus pusillus, Dobson, 1876

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Miniopteridae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 674-709 : 694

3.

Small Long-fingered Bat

Miniopterus pusillus

French: Minioptére nain / German: Kleine Langfligelfledermaus / Spanish: Miniéptero enano

Other common names: Nicobar Bent-winged Bat, Nicobar Long-fingered Bat, Small Bent-winged Bat

Taxonomy. Miniopterus pusillus Dobson, 1876 ,

type locality not given. Restricted by R. C. Wroughton in 1918 to “Nicobar [Islands, India].”

Miniopterus pusillus is in the australis species complex that includes small Miniopterus of Asia and Australia. For a long time, it was treated as a subspecies of M. australis and then considered a valid species including M. macrocneme as a subspecies, and now both are considered distinct species.

Distribution of M. pusillus is fragmented on the continent (South Asia and South-east Asia) and islands, which suggests that it probably represents a specific complex that needs to be disentangled with genetic studies. Relative to Indonesian island populations, there is a great confusion with identifying members in the former australis complex ( M. australis , M. macrocneme , M. paululus , and M. shortridger), which causes uncertainty about identities and distributions of forms found in the region. Monotypic.

Distribution. Patchy records in S Asia ( Nepal and S India), much of mainland SE Asia ( Myanmar, S China including Hainan I, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia), and part of insular SE Asia (Nicobar Is, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Lesser Sundas, and Moluccas); a record from Borneo requires confirmation.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 38:4-50-2 mm, tail 39-7-51-2 mm, ear 9-2-10-9 mm, hindfoot 8-1-8-9 mm, forearm 36-5—44-3 mm; weight 9-11 g. Forearm measurements from different populations: India 39-6-40-2 mm, Sumatra 42-4-43-4 mm, Cambodia 39-8-41-8 mm, Vietnam 41-4-43-5 mm, and Myanmar 40-6-42 mm. Pelage of the Small Long-fingered Bat is uniform grayish brown, with almost black roots and occasionally reddish patches or even completely reddish. Venter is slightly paler. Membranes and skin areas are dark brown. Hair extends through basal area of upperpart of uropatagium. Ear is short, with short blunt tragus, curved slightly forward. The Small Long-fingered Bat is larger, on average, in most external body characteristics than the Little Long-fingered Bat ( M. australis ), the Philippine Long-fingered Bat ( M. paululus ), and Shortridge’s Long-fingered Bat ( M. shortridgei ). The Small Long-fingered Bat can be distinguished from the Japanese Long-fingered Bat ( M. blepotis ) and the Asian Long-fingered Bat (M. fuliginosus) by its smaller size and slightly more hairy uropatagium. It differs from the Intermediate Long-fingered Bat ( M. medius ) byits smaller size especially in skull measurements.

Habitat. Wide variety of habitats including transformed and agricultural areas, primary forests, different types of secondary forests, pasture, and submontane forests, most frequently in lowlands but up to elevations of ¢. 1200 m. The Small Long-fingered Bat forages in open areas, including over small streams and rivers.

Food and Feeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but other long-fingered bats feed mainly on soft insects captured in flight.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. The Small Long-fingered Bat is thought to be mainly nocturnal. It roosts in limestone caves, abandoned mines, tunnels, culverts, and occasionally rock and tree crevices. Echolocation calls have downward FM signals. Regional characteristics are: start frequencies of 98-4-125-4 kHz, end frequencies of 54-6-58-9 kHz, peak frequencies of57-9-68-8 kHz, and durations of 3-6-6 milliseconds in India; mean peak frequency 62-8 kHz in Thailand; and peak frequencies of 60-2-61-6 kHz in Cambodia.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Colonies of Small Long-fingered Bats contain a few hundred individuals, but sometimes they exceed a thousand individuals. It shares roosts with other cave-dwelling bats such as the Large Long-fingered Bat ( M. magnater ) and the Black-bearded Tomb Bat (7Taphozous melanopogon) in Myanmar or the Large Long-fingered Bat and Horsfield’s Leaf-nosed Bat (Hipposideros larvatus) in Vietnam.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Bates & Harrison (1997), Bates et al. (2000), Bonaccorso & Reardon (2008c), Borisenko & Kruskop (2003), Bumrungsri, Bates et al. (2008), Bumrungsri, Harrison et al. (2006), Corbet & Hill (1992), Dobson (1876), Francis (2008a), Francis et al. (2010), Furey et al. (2012), Hendrichsen, Bates, Hayes & Walston (2001), Huang, J.C.C. et al. (2014), Hughes et al. (2011), Kitchener & Suyanto (2002), Payne et al. (2007), Phauk et al. (2013), Phillipps & Phillipps (2016), Robinson & Smith (1997), Srinivasulu, C. et al. (2010), Wordley et al. (2014), Wroughton (1918b).

Figures

1. Asian Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus fuliginosus), 2. Large Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus magnater), 3. Small Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus pusillus), 4. Intermediate Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus meduius), 5. Ryukyu Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus fuscus), 6. Eschscholtz’s Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus eschscholtzii), 7. Philippine Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus paululus), 8. Great Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus tristis), 9. Shortridge’s Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus shortridgei), 10. Javanese Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus blepotis), 11. Little Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus australis), 12. Small Melanesian Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus macrocneme), 13. Loyalty Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus robustior), 14. Australian Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus orianae), 15. Pallid Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus pallidus), 16. Schreibers’s Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus schreibersu), 17. Neghrohion Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus maghrebensis)

Distribution. Patchy records in S Asia ( Nepal and S India ), much of mainland SE Asia ( Myanmar , S China including Hainan I, Thailand , Laos , Vietnam , and Cambodia ), and part of insular SE Asia (Nicobar Is, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Lesser Sundas, and Moluccas ); a record from Borneo requires confirmation.