362.

Elery’s Tube-nosed Bat

Murina eleryi

French: Murine d’Elery / German: Elery-Rohrennase / Spanish: Ratonero narizudo de Elery

Taxonomy. Murina eleryi Furey et al., 2009,

“Kim Hy Commune, Na Ri district of Kim Hy Nature Reserve, Bac Kan province, Vietnam, 22°16.392’N, 106°03.427’E, 525 m a.s.l. (above sea level).”

Specimens now attributed to M. eleryi were previously considered to be M. aurata . Murina eleryi was originally described solely from Vietnam, but later studies showed that other specimens from South-east Asia might also be included underit instead of M. aurata, potentially restricting M. aurata to the Tibetan region. Based on limited genetic data, M. eleryi appears to be closely related to M. balaensis, M. gracilis, and M. recondita . In a genetic study in 2017, specimens identified as M. cf. eleryi from Myanmar clustered separately from M. eleryi from Laos, Vietnam, and China, suggesting that they represent true M. aurata (not included in the study) or an undescribed species. Monotypic.

Distribution. SE China (Hunan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Guangdong), N Thailand, C Laos, Vietham, and E Cambodia.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 31- 5-39 mm, tail 26-5-32- 3 mm, ear 11-5-13- 3 mm, hindfoot 5-2-7- 7 mm, forearm 27-3-31- 3 mm; weight 2-5-5- 5 g. Fur long and silky. Dorsal pelage is overall coppery brown (hairs with dark brown bases, gray yellow middles, and dark copper reddish tips), with bright golden-tipped guard hairs mixed throughout; venteris silvery gray (hairs with dark brown bases and silvery gray tips), being more brownish near chin and sides. Dorsal pelage extends sparsely onto wings, uropatagium, thumbs, and feet. Face is sparsely haired except for long protuberant naked nostrils. Ears are short, broad, and rounded, with smoothly convex anterior margins, distinct notch on posterior margins, and broadly rounded tips; tragusis long and narrow and tapers toward pointed tip. Baculum is saddle-shaped, being curved upward dorsally and with deep emargination ventrally, being more deeply bifurcated at tip than at base. Wing attaches near base of claw on first toe. Skull has non-inflated rostrum and moderately domed braincase; sagittal crest is absent, and lambdoidal crest is weak; I” is anterior to I’; C! has much smaller basal area but greater height than P% P? is less than one-half the basal area of P* but ¢.50% the height; M! and M? have well-developed mesostyles; and talonids of M, and M, are subequal to or larger than their respective trigonids.

Habitat. Primarily hill and montane evergreen forests at elevations of 525-2550 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. Elery’s Tube-nosed Bat appears to be relatively widespread, but virtually nothing is known about its ecology threats. Additional research is needed to clarify its conservation status.

Bibliography. Eger & Lim (2011), Furey, Thong Vu Dinh et al. (2009), Liu Zhixiao et al. (2014), Nguyen Truong Son etal. (2015), Soisook (2013), Soisook, Thaw Win-Naingng etal. (2017), Xu Zhongxian et al. (2014).