Thai National Parks

The wall-roosting mouse-eared bat, or Nepalese whiskered myotis (Myotis muricola) is a species of vesper bat whose type locality is Nepal.

Taxonomic notes

M. muricola was previously classified as a subspecies of Myotis mystacinus but genetic studies indicate that M. muricola represents a complex of species.

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

M.muricola is found in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam (Simmons, 2005).

Ecology

M.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 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 in which it roosts (Richardson, 1993).

Habitat

M.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 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, M.muricola is classified as Least Concern.

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