A morphological analysis of the skull size and shape of Kerivoulinae (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Vietnam

Multivariate analysis of craniodental morphology in mouse-eared bats (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae, Myotis) from Vietnam

This study conducted biostatistical multivariate analyses on 23 craniodental morphological measurements from 209 specimens to study interspecific variations amongst 15 bat species of the genus Myotis in Vietnam. Univariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that the studied species can be divided into four groups as follows: extra-large-sized species (M.chinensis), large-sized species (M.pilosus, M.indochinensis and M.annectans), medium-sized species (M.altarium, M.hasseltii, M.montivagus, M.horsfieldii, M.ater, M.laniger and M.muricola) and small-sized species (M.annamiticus, M.aff.siligorensis, M.rosseti and M.alticraniatus). Our data revealed that the main craniodental features contributing to the variations in distinguishing Myotis species are the width of the anterior palatal, least height of the coronoid process, length of the upper and lower canine-premolar, zygomatic width and width across the upper canines and lower premolar-molar length. Based on patterns of morphological differences, we conducted comparisons between morphometrically closely resembling species pairs and further discussed additional characteristics that are expected to support the taxonomy and systematics of Vietnamese Myotis bats.

First record of the flat-skulled woolly bat Kerivoula depressa and the Indochinese woolly bat K. dongduongana (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) in China

Recent studies have revealed that the Kerivoula depressa complex should be divided into two species, K. depressa distributed mainly in Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and K. dongduongana found only in the Annamite Mountains of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. In November 2018 and April 2019, 24 woolly bats were collected by two-band harp traps in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. Based on morphological, morphometric, and phylogenetic (COI, Cytb, and RAG2 gene sequences) analyses, these bats were identified as K. depressa and K. dongduongana, representing two new species records for the country. Including the new records, six Kerivoula species have been recorded in China, namely K. depressa, K. dongduongana, K. furva, K. kachinensis, K. picta and K. titania. To facilitate their identification and biological research in the future, we have provided an up-to-date key to all Kerivoula species occurring in China.