The Formosan golden tube-nosed bat (''Harpiola isodon'') is native to the high-altitude regions of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described as a new species in 2006. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...

had been collected in Yuli Wildlife Refuge in Zhuoxi, Taiwan in 1998. Its

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

"''isodon''" means "equal-toothed." The researchers who described the species chose this name because of the almost-equal basal area of the canines, first premolars, and second premolars.

Description

It is a medium-sized tube-nosed bat, with an average forearm length of . Its

guard hairs Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...

have shiny, golden tips, inspiring its common name. Its dorsal fur is very long, while the ventral fur is shorter. Its fur texture is woolly. Individual hairs are dark brown at their bases, bright yellow in the middle, and dark brown again at their tips. Its

uropatagium The patagium (plural: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flight. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, birds, some dromaeosau ...

is densely furred both above and below. Its ears are long; its tragi are long.

Range and habitat

It has been documented in the mountainous regions of

, from elevations of above sea level. In 2006, it was published that the species had been documented in

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 ...

for the first time.

Conservation

It is currently assessed as least concern by the IUCN.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2571828 Mammals of Taiwan Mammals described in 2006 Bats of Asia Murininae