Description of a new Indochinese Myotis (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae), with additional data on the "M. annatessae" species complex

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.

Molecular and morphological revision of small Myotinae from the Himalayas shed new light on the poorly known genus Submyotodon (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)

The systematics status of the constituent species of the M. mystacinus morphogroup in the Himalayan region has long been marred by uncertainty. Lack of integrative studies combining morphological and genetic data from specimens recently collected in this region has hampered our understanding of cryptic variations in this complex taxonomic group. To address this issue, new material from the Himalayan region of India and Nepal was obtained and vouchered specimens in the holdings of various museums were also re-examined. As comparative material, a large series of relevant specimens from South and Southeast Asia were also included in this revision. Using a combination of multivariate analysis of craniodental characters and molecular reconstructions, we critically evaluated the systematic position of the small Myotinae in the Himalayas. We establish that M. nipalensis forms a very distinct lineage (which also includes the recently described M. annatessae) and refute previous taxonomic suggestions that it is related to M. davidii. Our study also conclusively proved the common occurrence of the poorly known genus Submyotodon in the Himalayan region (Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal and China) and evidenced species-level divergences within that genus. Submyotodon species share nyctalodont or semi-nyctalodont lower molar configuration with few other small and unrelated Myotinae from Asia suggesting that these unusual dental characters are homoplasious in this subfamily. We also noticed a very confused taxonomic situation associated with many DNA sequences of Asian Myotis deposited in public repositories and call for possibilities of better data curation.