Confirmation of the existence of Himalayan long-eared bats, Plecotus homochrous (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae), in China

By

Luo, Pengfei
He, Xiangyang
Zhang, Yuzhi
Ye, Jian-Ping
Guo, Min
Deng, Jin
Zhou, Chunhui
Zhou, Jiang
Zhang, Li-Biao

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2023

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1161

Pages

129--141

Subjects

cyt b gene , echolocation calls , Morphology

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1161.99487

 

Abstract

The existence of Himalayan long-eared bats, Plecotus homochrous (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae), in China has not been previously confirmed. In this study, four bats captured with harp traps from two sites in the Maoershan National Nature Reserve in Guangxi, China were investigated. These bats have long, wide auricles, each with a prominent tragus. The length of each auricle is about the same as that of a forearm. Hairs on the ventral fur have a dark base with mixed grey and yellowish tips; those on the dorsal fur also have a dark base and are bicolored with brown tips. The thumbs are very short. A concavity is present in the front of the dorsal side of the cranium. Based on morphological characteristics and phylogeny using Cyt b gene sequences, these bats were identified as P. homochrous, thus confirming the existence of Himalayan long-eared bats in China.