Myotis hermani Thomas 1923

Bumrungsri, Sara, Harrison, David L., Satasook, Chutamas, Prajukjitr, Amorn, Thong-Aree, Siriporn & Bates, Paul J. J., 2006, A review of bat research in Thailand with eight new species records for the country, Acta Chiropterologica 8 (2), pp. 325-359 : 344-346

Myotis hermani Thomas 1923

Herman’s bat

Myotis hermani Thomas 1923: 252 ; Sabang, north- west Sumatra.

New Material

PSU-M 05.1 (field no. SB040509.17), ♀, 9 May 2004, Khuan Kaowang Forest Park , Rattaphum District, Songkhla Prov- ince, 07°00’00”N, 100°15’54”E, collected

by Dorothea Pio and Teunchitr Sritong- choy.

Taxonomic Notes

The recent specimen from Thailand, with a forearm length of 60.0 mm ( Table 4) and a condylo-canine length of 19.1 mm ( Table 5), agrees in size and morphology with the holotype of M. hermani from Sumatra (61 mm and 19.5 mm, respective- ly). It is significantly larger than Myotis formosus (FA: 44.5–49.1 mm, n = 5 and

CCL: 16.3–16.6 mm, n = 4; measurements listed in Bates and Harrison, 1997), which is the only other species of Asian Myotis cur- rently included in the subgenus Chryso- pteron (sensu Corbet and Hill, 1992). Size apart, it shares most of the external charac- ters exhibited by M. formosus . It has con- spicuously orange (of various hues) and black parti-coloured wings and interfemoral membrane ( Fig. 2b ). The ears are dark or- ange with black edges and have a concavity on the posterior border. The feet are not greatly enlarged. The hair roots are buff coloured and the tips orange, the latter frost- ed with black on both the dorsal and ventral aspects. Black frosting is not present in specimens of M. formosus seen from the Indian Subcontinent ( Bates and Harrison, 1997) but the colouration is closely similar to that of an individual identified as M. wa- tasei (= M. formosus sensu Corbet and Hill, 1992 ; Simmons, 2005), a photograph of which is included in Lin et al. (2004). The skull and dentition are comparable to those of M. formosus (for details see Bates and Harrison, 1997) in all aspects except for their considerably larger size.

Findley (1972) included hermani as a synonym of M. formosus , a view subse- quently followed by Koopman (1993). How- ever, Corbet and Hill (1992) argued that the size of M. hermani supports its specific dis- tinction, a view supported by the discovery of this recent specimen in Thailand. As such, M. hermani and M. formosus are here considered to be two distinct species.

Distribution and Ecological Notes

This is the first record from Thailand and appears to be the first confirmed record of this bat since it was described from a single adult female collected from north-west Sumatra ( Thomas, 1923).

The recent specimen, a mature fema- le, was captured in a mist net set over a seasonal small stream (5 m wide) in Khuan Kaowang Forest Park. The capture site was on the edge of secondary tropical lowland rain forest (ca. 350 ha at 100–200 m a.s.l.), which is characterized by many large standing trees and a dense shrub layer. It appeared that the bat, which was caught at 20:00 hours at a height of 1.5 m, was travelling from the forest to an area of rubber plantations and dry scrub woodland. Its body was covered with a 3 mm layer of fat. Possibly this was an energy reserve for the breeding period.

Figures

FIG. 2. A general view of part of Hala Forest and six bat species new to the fauna of Thailand: A — Hipposideros ridleyi, B — Myotis hermani, C — Murina suilla, D — Murina aenea, E — Kerivoula pellucida, F — Mops mops