201.

Thick-eared Serotine

Eptesicus pachyotis

French: Sérotine a oreilles épaisses / German: DickohrBreitfligelfledermaus / Spanish: Eptesicus de orejas gruesas

Other common names: Thick-eared Bat

Taxonomy. Vesperugo (Vesperus) pachyotis Dobson, 1871,

“Khasi Hills [Meghalaya State], Bengal,” India.

Relationship of E. pachyotis to other species of Eptesicus is uncertain. It was thought to be related to E. dimissus, but that species has recently been moved to a new and unrelated genus, Cassistrellus . Monotypic.

Distribution. NC, C & SW China (Tibet [= Xizang], Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, and Sichuan), Bangladesh (Sylhet Division), NE India (Meghalaya and Mizoram), and NW Thailand; possibly N Myanmar (although this record has been mapped dubiously).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 55-57 mm, tail 40-41 mm, ear 13-14-1 mm, hindfoot 6-9-9 mm, forearm 38-45-3 mm. Dorsal pelage of the Thick-eared Serotine is dark brown; ventral pelage is paler. Head is flat, and muzzle is very short and broad, with well-developed glands. Ears are triangular, with rounded tips, lower part being very thick and fleshy compared with other species of Eptesicus; tragus is short and broadly rounded above and curved inward, similar to that of species of Nyctalus . Wings attach to base of toes unlike in the Surat Helmeted Bat ( Cassustrellus dimissus). Skull profile in dorsal view rises smoothly to lambdoidal crests; zygomatic arches are robust, with small dorsal projections from jugal; and tympanic bullae are small. I? is bicuspid; I’ is much shorter than I?; C' lacks secondary cusplets; P* is large; P, is one-half the size of P, and compressed in tooth row; and lower molars are myotodont.

Habitat. Tropical moist deciduous forests.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. The Thick-eared Serotine apparently roosts in tree hollows and fissures in rocks.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Thick-eared Serotine is widespread but does not appear to be exceptionally common and virtually nothing is known aboutits ecology or threats. Additional studies are needed.

Bibliography. Bates & Harrison (1997), Corbet & Hill (1992), Csorba, Bumrungsri, Francis, Bates, Gumal, Kingston, Molur & Srinivasulu (2008b), Francis (2008a), Mandal et al. (2000), Myers, P. et al. (2000), Ruedi, Eger et al. (2017), Smith & Xie Yan (2008), Srinivasulu, C. & Srinivasulu (2012), Srinivasulu, C. et al. (2010).