456.

Peyton’s Myotis

Myotis peytoni

French: Murin de Peyton / German: Peyton-Mausohr / Spanish: Ratonero de Peyton

Other common names: Peyton's Whiskered Bat, Peyton's Whiskered Myotis

Taxonomy. Myotis peytoni Wroughton & Ryley, 1913,

“Gersoppa Falls, Kanara [Karnataka, southern India]. Altitude 1,300 ft. [= 390 m].”

Subgenus Myotis; montivagus species group. See M. montivagus . Based on dental characters, federatus and peytoni had been synonymized under M. montivagus (subgenus Selysius), and some authorities treated peytoni as subspecies of M. montivagus, until it was reelevated to species rank in 2013.

Monotypic.

Distribution. S & EC India, from states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. One mentioned locality from NE India (Mizoram) is assignable to M. montivagus .

Descriptive notes. Head—body 56-62 mm, tail 42-48 mm, ear 14—-15- 5 mm, hindfoot 9-10 mm, forearm 45-47 mm. Pelage is fairly long (5-6 mm) and loose. Dorsal hairs are dark earth brown, with chocolate-brown tips and blackish roots. Ventral hairs have dark bases, with paler brown to fawn tips. Face is densely covered with hair. Ears are relatively short and bluntly pointed, anterior surfaces are smoothly convex, and posterior surfaces have shallow concavity beneath tips. Tragusis short, less than one-half the ear length. Wing membranes are essentially naked and almost black. Calcar is comparatively short, extending halfwayto tail, without calcar lobe. Wings are attached to base of outer phalanx of each foot. Feet are not greatly enlarged, less than one-half the lengths oftibiae. Two specimens from Eastern Ghats (Andra Pradesh) were slightly smaller (forearm lengths 42-5-43- 4 mm) than those from Western Ghats; two specimens from Sairandhri, Silent Valley National Park, India, had smaller forearm lengths (4444- 1 mm). Skull has moderately domed cranial profile, with depression between rostrum and braincase. Rostrum is broad, slightly flattened, and about equal in length to braincase. Sagittal and lambdoid crests are weakly developed; anteorbital bridge is wide. Supraoccipital is vertical and projects posteriorly about to lambda. Zygomata are broadly flared, with slight dorsal thickening of jugal bone. Coronoid process of cach mandible greatly exceeds canine in height; it has vertical anterior border, and posterior surface slopes gently downward to condyle. C! relatively short and broad. P? is well developed and only partly displaced from tooth row, so P? and P* are notin contact. P, lies partly or fully in tooth row, and P, and P, are separated. I, and I, have three cusps; I, has four. C, is short, scarcely exceeding P, In height. Upper premolars stand loosely. Condylo-canine lengths are 15-1-15- 6 mm; maxillary tooth row lengths are 6-5—6- 8 mm.

Habitat. Among rocky crevices, semi-evergreen forests near streams in a hilly region, and subtropical/tropical evergreen forests with steep ridges and hilly terrain at elevations of 390-1340 m.

Food and Feeding. Feces of Peyton’s Myotis contained remnants of hard-armored beetles; scales of moths; parts of antennae, wings, and legs; and cornea of beetles and moths. Beetles comprised ¢.98% of fecal matter, followed by soft-bodied moths.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Peyton’s Myotis is nocturnal and might roost in caves. In the Mahabaleshwar area, Maharashtra State (Western Ghats, India), two males were caught (late October and late February) roosting in isolated shallow holes in basalt rock that was dripping continuously even in dry winter and early summer. Calls have FM sweeps that decrease in steepness at the very end of a call. Calls last 1-5-4 milliseconds and start at ¢.85 kHz and sweep down to ¢.40-45 kHz (Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India).

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Heaps of feces under a roosting site suggested long-term use.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. Peyton’s Myotis is known only from a few specimens, and little is known aboutits distribution. abundance, ecology, or threats. Known colonies are very scattered, with small numbers of individuals in each colony. Human disturbance in two of four localities in southern India is increasing from tourism. Recent observation in Silent Valley National Park represents only the second record from Kerala in extreme south-western India.

Bibliography. Bates & Harrison (1997), Corbet & Hill (1992), Csorba & Gorfél (2017), Ellerman & Morrison-Scott (1951), Ghosh (1989), Gorfél et al. (2013), Hill (1962), Koopman (1994). Korad (2014), Korad et al. (2005), Madhavan (2000), Mandal et al. (2000), Menon (2009), Molur et al. (2002), Saikia (2018), Simmons (2005), Srinivasulu, B. & Srinivasulu (2017), Srinivasulu, C. & Srinivasulu (2012), Vanitharani et al. (2005), Wordley et al. (2014), Wroughton & Ryley (1913).