The Taiwan broad-muzzled bat or Taiwan broad-muzzled myotis (''Submyotodon latirostris'') 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 ...

found in

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

It was described as a new species in 1932 by Japanese

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, and harvestmen. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly, the study of sp ...

Kyukichi Kishida was a Japanese zoologist, who published in mammalogy and arachnology. He described several spider genera or species including : * ''Heptathela ''Heptathela'' is a genus of spiders that includes the Kimura spider (''Heptathela kimurai''). Th ...

. 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 several ...

had been collected in

. Kishida placed it in the genus ''

Myotis 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 ...

'' with a binomial of ''M. latirostris''. In subsequent publications, it was considered by various authors to be a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the

whiskered bat 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 ...

(''M. mystacinus'') or the wall-roosting mouse-eared bat (''M. muricola''). However, its lineage is basal to all other ''Myotis'' species. It is still within the

Myotinae Myotinae is a subfamily of vesper bats. It contains three genera: ''Eudiscopus'', '' Myotis'', and ''Submyotodon''. Before the description of ''Submyotodon'' and analysis of its phylogenetics, as well as a phylogenetic analysis of ''Eudiscopus'', ...

subfamily, though its morphological and genetic differences justified placing it in a separate genus.

Description

It is a small species of bat, with a forearm length of . Its skull is overall smooth and lacking crests, and the

occipital bone The occipital bone () is a neurocranium, cranial dermal bone and the main bone of the occiput (back and lower part of the skull). It is trapezoidal in shape and curved on itself like a shallow dish. The occipital bone overlies the occipital lobe ...

of the braincase is distinctly raised, which is one if its identifying features. The fur of its back is long and shaggy, described as a "dark slaty brown." The tips of individual hairs are lighter brown. The fur of its belly is also dark brown, though the tips of the hairs are a more golden color.

Range and habitat

It is found in Taiwan, where it is considered relatively common. It is generally encountered in mountainous areas with elevations greater than above sea level, though it is found in lower elevations in the winter. Its maximum elevation range is at least above sea level.

References

{{taxonbar, from=Q19521375 Submyotodon Mammals described in 1932 Mammals of Taiwan Bats of Asia Taxa named by Kyukichi Kishida