The Bala tube-nosed bat (''Murina balaensis'') is a
critically endangered species of
bat found in
Thailand.
Taxonomy and etymology
It was first encountered in September 2012.
Its closest relative is
Eleryi's tube-nosed bat (''Murina eleryi'').
As the genus ''Murina'' is split into species groups, the Bala tube-nosed bat is placed into the ''suilla'' group, which also contains the
little tube-nosed bat
The little tube-nosed bat (''Murina aurata'') is a species of bat. An adult little tube-nosed bat has a body length of 4.0-4.6 cm, a tail length of 2.8-3.6 cm, and a wing length of 3.0-3.3 cm. The species is found across South a ...
,
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 ...
, the
ashy-gray tube-nosed bat
The ashy-gray tube-nosed bat (''Murina cineracea'') is a species in the vesper bat family Vespertilionidae, found in southern Asia, including Pakistan, northern India, Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. They have tube-shaped nostrils (hence the ...
,
Eleryi's tube-nosed bat, the
slender tube-nosed bat
The slender tube-nosed bat (''Murina gracilis'') is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae found only in Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and So ...
, ''
Murina harpioloides
The Da Lat tube-nosed bat (''Murina harpioloides'') is a species of vesper bats (Vespertilionidae). It is found in Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in ...
'', the
greater tube-nosed bat, ''
Murina recondita
''Murina recondita'' is a species of bat found in Taiwan.
Taxonomy
''Murina recondita'' was described as a new species in 2009. The holotype had been collected in 2003 in Ruisui, Taiwan. Its species name "''recondita''" means "hidden" or "conc ...
'', the forest tube-nosed bat (sometimes considered synonymous with the Ussuri tube-nosed bat), the
brown tube-nosed bat
The brown tube-nosed bat (''Murina suilla'') is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It can be found in the following countries: Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilip ...
,
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 ...
, and
Ussuri tube-nosed bat
The Ussuri tube-nosed bat (''Murina ussuriensis'') is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is threatened by habitat loss.
It is the only species of bat that hibernates in snowbanks.
Taxonomy and etymology
It was described ...
.
[Corbet, G. B., & Hill, J. E. (1992). The mammals of the Indomalayan region: a systematic review (Vol. 488). Oxford: oxford university press.][Csorba, G., Son, N. T., Saveng, I., & Furey, N. M. (2011). Revealing cryptic bat diversity: three new Murina and redescription of M. tubinaris from Southeast Asia. Journal of Mammalogy, 92(4), 891-904.]
Its species name, ''balaensis'', refers to the Bala Forest of Thailand where it is found.
Description
It is a small bat, weighing only .
Its forearms are long.
Its ears are rounded with smooth margins, measuring long.
The ears are brown in color, with the base of the ear a lighter brown.
The
tragus is white and short, at long.
Their dorsal fur is ashy-gray, with some hairs tipped in a reddish-orange tint of brown.
Other dorsal hairs are tipped in a charcoal black color.
Their heads, backs,
uropatagia
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 dromaeosaurs, ...
, and feet have silver-gold
guard hairs.
On their ventral side, their hairs are dark gray at the base, but whitish gray at the tips.
Their thumbs are relatively long, at long.
The
calcar is well-developed, but lacks a keel.
[Soisook, P., Karapan, S., Satasook, C., & Bates, P. J. (2013). A new species of Murina (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from peninsular Thailand. Zootaxa, 3746(4), 567-579.]
Biology
It eats insects, foraging for them only above the forest floor.
It likely roosts in leaves or hollow trees.
Range and habitat
It occurs in moist, evergreen lowland rainforests in the
Narathiwat Province of southern
Thailand.
It has only been encountered in the Bala Forest of Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary.
Conservation
It is currently evaluated as
critically endangered by the
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
.
It meets the criteria for this evaluation because its area of occupancy and extent of occurrence are both very small, at less than .
Also, there is a projected decline in the quality and extent of their habitat.
It is threatened by habitat loss due to deforestation and the expansion of agriculture.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q17343316
Mammals described in 2013
Bats of Southeast Asia
Murininae
Mammals of Thailand
Endemic fauna of Thailand