The Bocharic myotis or Bokhara whiskered bat (''Myotis bucharensis'') is a species of
mouse-eared bat
The mouse-eared bats or myotises are a diverse and widespread genus (''Myotis'') of bats within the family Vespertilionidae. The noun "''myotis''" itself is a New Latin construction, from the Greek "''muós'' (meaning "mouse") and "''oûs''" (mea ...
in the family
Vespertilionidae, described in 1950, and indigenous to
Tajikistan, and
Uzbekistan.
Taxonomy
The Bocharic myotis was
described as a new subspecies of ''Myotis longicaudatus''
in 1950 by Alexander Petrovitch Kuzyakin (also known as Aleksandr Petrovich Kuzâkin).
The
holotype had been collected near Kurgan-Tjubinskaja in
Tajikistan.
When ''M. longicaudatus'' was later recognized as a
synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
of the
fraternal myotis
The fraternal myotis (''Myotis frater'') is a species of vesper bat native to East Asia.
Taxonomy
The long-tailed myotis (''M. longicaudatus'') was split as a distinct species by a 2015 study based on molecular evidence. This has also been fo ...
, the Bocharic myotis had a trinomen of ''Myotis frater bucharensis''. Publications in 2000 and 2001 reasserted its status as a full species rather than a subspecies, however.
Based on the analysis of two genes, one
nuclear
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the nucleus of the atom:
* Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
*Nuclear space
*Nuclear ...
and one
mitochondrial
A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is use ...
, the Bocharic myotis is part of a
species complex including the
fraternal myotis
The fraternal myotis (''Myotis frater'') is a species of vesper bat native to East Asia.
Taxonomy
The long-tailed myotis (''M. longicaudatus'') was split as a distinct species by a 2015 study based on molecular evidence. This has also been fo ...
. Its
sister taxon is likely the
long-tailed myotis
The long-tailed myotis (''Myotis longicaudatus'') is a species of vesper bat found in northern and eastern Asia.
Taxonomy
Previously thought to be a subspecies of the fraternal myotis (''M. frater''), it was split as a distinct species by a ...
(''M. longicaudatus'').
Range
The Bocharic myotis is only known from
Central Asia. The species was first documented in Tajikistan; between 1959 and 1963, four individuals were documented near
Samarqand and
Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It has been speculated that it may also occur in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Conservation
Since investigators failed to locate the species during field trips in the 1970s and 1980s, the
International Union for Conservation of Nature suggested that ''M. bucharensis'' was potentially extinct in
Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan.
In 2019, a male Bocharic myotis was captured near the
Zeravshan
Zarafshon ( uz, Zarafshon / Зарафшон, fa, زرافشان) is a city in the center of Uzbekistan's Navoiy Region. Administratively, it is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Muruntau. It has an area of and it ...
river in Tajikistan, confirming that the species is still present there.
See also
*
List of mammals of Afghanistan
This list of the mammal species in Afghanistan provides information about the status of the 129 mammal species occurring in Afghanistan. Four are endangered, twelve are vulnerable, and five are near threatened.
The following classes, which lie on a ...
*
List of mammals of Kyrgyzstan
This list of mammals of Kyrgyzstan comprises 43 mammal species recorded in Kyrgyzstan, of which four are endangered, five are vulnerable, and three are near threatened.
The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as ...
*
List of mammals of Tajikistan
This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Tajikistan. There are fifty-one mammal species in Tajikistan, of which four are endangered, six are vulnerable, and three are near threatened.
The following tags are used to highlight each species' ...
*
List of mammals of Uzbekistan
This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Uzbekistan. There are 98 mammal species in Uzbekistan, of which one is critically endangered, three are endangered, six are vulnerable, and four are near threatened.
The following tags are used to h ...
Footnotes
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1830989
Mammals described in 1950
Mammals of Afghanistan
Mammals of Central Asia
Mouse-eared bats
Bats of Asia