Myotis siligorensis (Horsfield, 1855)

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Vespertilionidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 716-981 : 966

464.

Himalayan Whiskered Myotis

Myotis siligorensis

French: Murin de Siliguri / German: Himalaya-Bartfledermaus / Spanish: Ratonero de Siliguri

Other common names: Himalayan Whiskered Bat, Siliguri Bat, Small-toothed Myotis

Taxonomy. Vespertilio siligorensis Horsfield, 1855 ,

Nepal.

Subgenus Myotis ; siligorensis species group. Myotis siligorensis as currently defined represents a species complex, and subspecies alticraniatus is probably a distinct species. Four subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution. M.s.siligorensisHorsfield,1855—NIndia(Uttarakhand,Sikkim,WestBengal,andMeghalaya,)andENepal.MaypossiblyalsooccurinBhutan.

M.s.alticraniatusOsgood,1932—Vietnam.

M.s.sowerbyiA.B.Howell,1926—SWChina(Fujian)andHainan.

M. s. thaianus Shamel, 1942 — S China (Yunnan), N & E Myanmar, N & C Thailand, [ Laos, and WC Cambodia.

Populations in Malay Peninsula and N Borneo (Sabah) have not been allocated to a subspecies.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 26- 3—41 mm, tail 25-38 mm, ear 8-13 mm, hindfoot 4-7 mm, forearm 30-36 mm; weight 2: 3—4 g. The Himalayan Whiskered Myotis is very small. Dorsal pelage is dark brown (hairs with dark brown bases and medium brown tips); ventral pelage is creamy buff (hairs with dark bases and pale creamy buff tips). Ears are long, and tragus is long and slender, with bluntly pointed tip. Wings attach to bases of outer toes, and feet are small. Baculum is extremely small, with narrowly rounded tip and simple, unbifurcated base, being abruptly narrowed in lateral view about halfway to tip. Skull is small and distinctly domed; C' is barely taller than P* P” is two-thirds the crown area, one-half the height of P#, and in tooth row; C1 is less than or equalto height of and crown area of P; P, is one-half the crown area and two-thirds the height of P_; lower molars, like those oF the rest of the siligorensis group, are nyctaldont or etanyaldont Chromosomal complement has 2n = 44 and FNa = 52.

Habitat. Montane forests (Himalayas), secondary lowland forests ( China), near limestone regions ( Laos), secondary and primary forests ( Vietnam), highly disturbed agricultural areas ( Myanmar), and dry evergreen forests ( Thailand) at elevations of 490-2770 m.

Food and Feeding. Himalayan Whiskered Myotis are apparently fly high and have been reported entering people’s houses to capture insects. In Thailand, they flew 2-5 m aboveground while foraging, spending 10-15 minutes in a single area before moving to the next.

Breeding. A pregnant Himalayan Whiskered Myotis was caught in early May in Vietnam.

Activity patterns. Himalayan Whiskered Myotis are known to roost in caves and cervices in rocks and old buildings. They are most active at dusk and dawn, leaving their roost to forage at dusk and returning to their roost c.30 minutes before sunrise. In Thailand, they left cave roosts a little after sunset and hunted until 02:00 h. Calls are steep FM sweep, with peak frequency of 66 kHz and duration of 5-4 milliseconds ( Thailand).

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Himalayan Whiskered Myotis typically roost in small groups of only a few individuals, but colonies of up to ¢.1200 individuals have been reported.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Himalayan Whiskered Myotis does not appear to face any major threats. It probably represents a species complex, and additional taxonomic work is needed to clarify how many taxa there are and their conservation status.

Bibliography. Bates & Harrison (1997), Bates et al. (2005), Das (2003), Findley (1972), Harada, Yenbutra, Tsuchiya & Takada (1985), Hutson, Kingston, Molur & Srinivasulu (2008), Kruskop (2013a), Kruskop & Borisenko (2013), Ruedi, Csorba et al. (2015), Ruedi, Stadelmann et al. (2013), Smith & Xie Yan (2008), Surlykke et al. (1993).

Figures

449. Hairy-faced Myotis (Myotis annectans), 450. Frosted Myotis (Myotis pruinosus), 451. Yanbaru Whiskered Myotis (Myotis yanbarensis), 452. Long-toed Myotis (Myotis secundus), 453. Bornean Whiskered Myotis (Myotis borneoensis), 454. Malaysian Whiskered Myotis (Myotis federatus), 455. Indochinese Myotis (Myotis indochinensis), 456. Peyton’s Myotis (Myotis peytoni), 457. Burmese Whiskered Myotis (Myotis montivagus), 458. Long-fingered Myotis (Myotis capaccinii), 459. Chinese Water Myotis (Myotis laniger), 460. Csorba’s Myotis (Myotis csorbai), 461. Kashmir Cave Myotis (Myotis longipes), 462. Annamit Myotis (Myotis annamiticus), 463. Phan Luong’s Myotis (Myotis phanluongi), 464. Himalayan Whiskered Myotis (Myotis siligorensis), 465. Chestnut Myotis (Myotis badius), 466. Ridley’s Myotis (Myotis ridleyi), 467. Thick-thumbed Myotis (Myotis rosseti), 468. Horsfield’s Myotis (Myotis horsfieldii), 469. Pallid Large-footed Myotis (Myotis macrotarsus), 470. Stalker’s Myotis (Myotis stalkeri), 471. Gray Large-footed Myotis (Myotis adversus), 472. Maluku Myotis (Myotis moluccarum), 473. Southern Myotis (Myotis macropus), 474. Lesser Large-footed Myotis (Myotis hasseltii)

Subspecies and Distribution. M.s.siligorensisHorsfield,1855—NIndia(Uttarakhand,Sikkim,WestBengal,andMeghalaya,)andENepal.MaypossiblyalsooccurinBhutan. M.s.alticraniatusOsgood,1932—Vietnam. M.s.sowerbyiA.B.Howell,1926—SWChina(Fujian)andHainan. M. s. thaianus Shamel, 1942 — S China (Yunnan), N & E Myanmar , N & C Thailand , [ Laos , and WC Cambodia . Populations in Malay Peninsula and N Borneo (Sabah) have not been allocated to a subspecies.