327.

Rufous Tube-nosed Bat

Murina leucogaster

French: Murine a ventre blanc / German: Rotliche Rohrennase / Spanish: Ratonero narizudo de vientre blanco

Other common names: Greater Tube-nosed Bat

Taxonomy. Murina leucogaster Milne -Edwards, 1872,

Moupin District, Szechwan, China.

Based on limited genetic data, M. leucogaster appears to be closely related to M. bicolor, M. rongjiangensis, M. fanjingshanensis, and M. shuipuensis . M. leucogaster was previously considered to include M. hilgendorfi as a race, but genetic and morphological data support their treatment as separate species. Race rubex was treated as a distinct species by Kuo Haochih and colleagues in 2009, but it is based only on a single specimen and the only major difference is where the foot attaches to the ankle (generally a good way for distinguishing Murina species); further study needed. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution. M.l.leucogasterMilne-Edwards,1872—C&EChinaandNVietnam.

M. l. rubex Thomas, 1916 — NE India (West Bengal); a record from Nepal is not supported by any voucher specimens and is not mapped here.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 47-64 mm, tail 3348 mm, ear 11-20 mm, hindfoot 8-13 mm, forearm 37-47 mm; weight 7-9 g. Fur is thick and soft; dorsally usually reddish brown to orangish or occasionally brownish (hairs with dark gray roots); ventrally whitish. Distinguished from Hilgendorf’s Tube-nosed Bat ( M. hilgendorfi) by its more rufous pelage (not brownish gray). Dorsal fur extends lightly onto uropatagium, hindfeet, thumbs, and wings. Wing membrane attaches to base of first toe (base offirst toe's claw in rubex). Face is sparsely covered in hairs except on long, protuberant nostrils, which are naked. Ears are short and broad with smoothly convex anterior margins, distinct notch on posterior margin, and broadly rounded tip; tragusis long, narrow, and tapering toward pointed tip, with slightly convex anterior margin, concave posterior margin above,slightly convex below, and a basal notch. Skull has relatively wide rostrum; sagittal and lambdoidal crests are present but inconspicuous (sagittal crest occasionally missing). I? is anteriorly positioned relative to I’; P? is distinctly less than half P* in size, and the sameis also true for the lower premolars; upper molars have mesostyles; talonids of M, and M, are about two-thirds or more crown area of trigonids. Dental formula for species of Murinais12/3,C1/1,P 2/2, M 3/3 (x2) = 34. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 44 and FNa = 58 (Guizhou, China).

Habitat. Recorded from pristine forests in Sichuan; known to forage in both forested and open areas. Found at elevations of 700-2133 m.

Food and Feeding. In China, based on fecal samples, diet consists mainly of smaller diurnal Coleoptera (mostly Cantharidae and Coccinellidae) with smaller proportions of Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Diptera, and Homoptera.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Rufous Tube-nosed Bats roost in caves, trees, and houses. They are known to hibernate in cave crevices during winter, near Beijing. In China,calls are a steep FM sweep with an average start frequency of 104-1 kHz, end frequency 34-9 kHz, peak frequency 88-8 kHz, duration 4-1 milliseconds, and interpulse interval 63-9 milliseconds.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Bates & Harrison (1997), Chen Jian et al. (2017), Csorba & Bates (2005), Eger & Lim (2011), Francis (2008a), Francis & Eger (2012), Gu Xiaoming (2006), He Fang et al. (2015), Kruskop (2005, 2013a), Kuo Haochih et al. (2009), Lin Hongjun et al. (2015), Ma Jie et al. (2008), Smith & Xie Yan (2008), Soisook (2013), Stubbe et al. (2016), Yoshiyuki (1989), Zeng Xiang et al. (2018).