Myotis montivagus (Dobson, 1874)

Bates, Paul J. J., Nwe, Tin, Bu, Si Si Hla, Mie, Khin Mie, Swe, Khin Maung, Nyo, Nyo, Khaing, Aye Aye, Aye, Nu Nu, Toke, Yin Yin, Aung, Naing Naing, Thi, Mar Mar & Mackie, Iain, 2005, A review of the genera Myotis, Ia, Pipistrellus, Hypsugo, and Arielulus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Myanmar (Burma), including three species new to the country, Acta Chiropterologica 7 (2), pp. 205-236 : 214-216

Myotis montivagus

Burmese Whiskered Bat

Vespertilio montivagus Dobson, 1874: 237 ; Hotha, Yunnan, China

i — measurements of extralimital specimens from Vietnam (HZM specimens) ii — measurements (external only) of extralimital specimens from Vietnam ( Bates et al., 1997) iii — measurements based on Tate (1942) iv — measurements of extralimital specimens from India and Cambodia (BMNH and HZM specimens)

Previous records from Myanmar

Kachin State: Adung Valley ( Hill, 1962). There is no new material.

Descriptive characters

This is a medium-large Myotis with a forearm length 40.5, 40.6 mm for the two specimens known from Myanmar ( Table 4; FA = 44.7–46.8 mm in Bates and Harrison, 1997; 44.0– 44.6 mm in Hendrichsen et al., 2001, and 39–47 mm in Borissenko and Kruskop, 2003). The dorsal pelage is dark brown with paler tips that give a slight glossy sheen. On the ventral surface, the hair bases are dark and the tips paler brown to fawn. In the wings, the third metacarpal exceeds the fourth and fifth in length. The wings are attached to the base of the outer phalanx of each foot. The feet are not en- larged, equal to or less than half the length of the tibiae. The skull is robust. The second upper premolar (P3) appears to be variable in size. In extralimital material, it is be- tween one eighth and one third the crown area of the first (P2) and is displaced inter- nally; P2 and the third premolar (P4) are in contact in some individuals. The lower ca- nine (C1) is short, only slightly exceeding the third lower premolar (P4) in height. The second lower premolar (P3) is half the crown area of the first (P2), and is com- pressed tightly in the toothrow; occasional- ly, it is displaced internally.

Similar species

Myotis montivagus is comparable in forearm length to M. hasselti and M. hors- fieldi but differs in the smaller size of its feet relative to tibia length.

Taxonomic notes

Corbet and Hill (1992) noted that the specimens from Myanmar and southern China are relatively small when compared to referred material from India and else- where in South-East Asia. The taxonomic significance of this is not known.

Ecological notes

In Kachin State, it was collected in 1931 at an altitude of 1,850 m (6,000 feet) in the Adung Valley, which is in the foothills of Mount Khakaborazi in the eastern Himalaya ( Hill, 1962).