The ashy-gray tube-nosed bat (''Murina cineracea'') is a species in the

vesper bat Vespertilionidae is a family of microbats, of the order Chiroptera, flying, insect-eating mammals variously described as the common, vesper, or simple nosed bats. The vespertilionid family is the most diverse and widely distributed of bat familie ...

family Vespertilionidae, found in southern Asia, including

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, northern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. They have

tube Tube or tubes may refer to: * ''Tube'' (2003 film), a 2003 Korean film * ''The Tube'' (TV series), a music related TV series by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom * "Tubes" (Peter Dale), performer on the Soccer AM television show * Tube (band), a ...

-shaped

nostrils A nostril (or naris , plural ''nares'' ) is either of the two orifices of the nose. They enable the entry and exit of air and other gasses through the nasal cavities. In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbi ...

(hence the name) which assist them with their feeding. The ashy-gray bat is one of 126 new species found in the Greater Mekong region during 2011. There were two other tube-nosed bats found in Southeast Asia in 2011:

Beelzebub's tube-nosed bat Beelzebub's tube-nosed bat (''Murina beelzebub''), also Beelzebub bat or demon bat, is a species in the vesper bat family Vespertilionidae, found in the Greater Mekong region of Southeast Asia, specifically the Quảng Trị and Gia Lai province ...

(''Murina beelzebub'') and

Walston's tube-nosed bat Walston's tube-nosed bat (''Murina walstoni'') is a species in the vesper bat family Vespertilionidae, found in the Greater Mekong region of Southeast Asia, specifically the Đắk Lắk Province of Vietnam and the Koh Kong and Ratanakiri pro ...

(''Murina walstoni''). All three species are small for bats and ''M. cineracea'' is small for a ''Murina'' bat. These three new tube-nosed bats were discovered by a team from the

Hungarian Natural History Museum The Hungarian Natural History Museum ( hu, Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum) in Budapest, dating back to 1802, houses the largest natural history collections of Hungary and the region. History of the museum Foundation In 1802, Count Feren ...

(HNHM) and

Fauna and Flora International Fauna & Flora International (FFI) is an international conservation charity and non-governmental organization dedicated to protecting the planet's threatened wildlife and habitats. Founded in 1903, it is the world's oldest international conserva ...

(FFI). All three of these bats live in tropical forests, making them endangered by

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

. The name "ashy-gray" comes from the color of their dorsal fur, while the ventral fur is dark gray, and there is some white fur on the breast area. In some areas the tips of the hair are dark. It lacks the golden guard hairs so common in other members of the genus ''Murina''. This bat is small enough to fit in a person's hand, weighing . As of 2013, there are still few details known about them and their ecology and it is suspected there are many more species of bats yet to be discovered in the region. Vespertilionid bats have many

cryptic species In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

. As an example, the members of the ashy-gray bat were formerly classified as

Scully's tube-nosed bat Scully's tube-Nosed bat (''Murina tubinaris'') is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It can be found in the following countries: India, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand, and Viet Nam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt ...

(''Murina tubinaris''). Eight new species were found in Southeast Asia between 2005-2009. The use of DNA technology has proved very useful in differentiating between the various species of ''Murina''.

See also

References

Further reading