The wall-roosting mouse-eared bat, or Nepalese whiskered myotis (''Myotis muricola'') is a species of

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 ...

whose type locality is

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

Taxonomic notes

''Myotis muricola'' was previously classified as a subspecies of ''

Myotis mystacinus The whiskered bat (''Myotis mystacinus'') is a small European bat with long fur. Although uncommon, ''M. mystacinus'' is often found around human habitation and around water; it is similar to Brandt's bat (''Myotis brandtii''), from which it wa ...

'' but genetic studies indicate that ''M. muricola'' represents a complex of

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

Morphology

The upper side of ''M.muricola'' is coloured brown or grey with dark bases and the underside has dark bases and light brown tips. The ears are moderately long, slender, bent forwards and bluntly pointed (Francis, 2008). ''M.muricola'' has small feet with wing membranes attached at the base of the toes. The tail is long and completely enclosed in the interfemoral membrane. It has three pairs of premolars, with the upper canine much longer than the third premolar. The second premolar is small and slightly intruded from the tooth row (Yasuma, Andau, Apin, Tuh Yit Yu, & Kimsui, 2003).

Distributions

''Myotis muricola'' is found in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

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 ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

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

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Myanmar 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 C. Wells, Joh ...

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 ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

(Simmons, 2005).

Ecology

''Myotis muricola'' is a nocturnal and insectivorous bat. It tends to feed during the first two hours after sunset and before dawn, using ultrasonic echolocation (Richardson, 1993). It catches

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

in flight or perched on foliage, the ground or a water surface. Small insects are usually caught directly in the mouth, while larger ones are scooped out of the air using the tail membrane and flipped into the mouth, or brought to the mouth with the wing tips (Bonaccooso, 1998). It drinks by swooping low over the surface of a body of water or collecting droplets of water from the roof of tunnels or

caves A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

in which it roosts (Richardson, 1993).

Habitat

''Myotis muricola'' roosts in a variety of different sites, including curled-up banana leaves (Francis, 2008), limestone forests (Abdullah, Azlan, & Neuchlos, 2005), hollow trees, rock shelters, artificial caves, mines and tunnels, and old buildings (Richardson, 1993).

Conservation status

According to the 2019

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

of Threatened Species, ''M. muricola'' is classified as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

* * * *Francis, C.M., Guillén, A., Robinson, M.F. (1999). Order Chiroptera: Bats. Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report . * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1830703 Mouse-eared bats Bats of Asia Bats of Oceania Bats of Southeast Asia Bats of Indonesia Bats of Malaysia Mammals of Afghanistan Mammals of Pakistan Mammals of Nepal Mammals of Bangladesh Mammals of Bhutan Mammals of Brunei Mammals of Cambodia Mammals of China Mammals of India Mammals of Laos Mammals of Myanmar Mammals of Papua New Guinea Mammals of the Philippines Mammals of Singapore Mammals of Taiwan Mammals of Thailand Mammals of Vietnam Mammals of Western New Guinea Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Mammals described in 1846 Bats of New Guinea