325.

Gray Tube-nosed Bat

Harpiola grisea

French: Murine de I'Himalaya / German: Graue Rohrennase / Spanish: Ratonero del Himalaya

Other common names: Peters's Tube-nosed Bat

Taxonomy. Murina grisea Peters, 1872,

Jeripanee, 5500 ft. (= 1676 m), Mussooree, Dehra Dun, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Traditionally considered a subgenus of Murina, Harpiola is now tentatively treated as a distinct genus, based on morphology, following the discovery of more specimens of H. grisea in Mizoram and of a second species, H. isodon, in Taiwan and Vietnam; nevertheless, Harpiola is phylogenetically imbedded within Murina and may be best retained there; further study needed. The Mizoram specimens resemble H. isodon in fur coloration; further sampling throughout both species’ ranges is needed to understand the full variability. Monotypic.

Distribution. N & NE India (Uttarakhand and Mizoram).

Descriptive notes. Head-body c. 45 mm, tail 25 mm, ear 12- 1 mm, hindfoot 6 mm, forearm 32-4-32- 8 mm. Dorsal pelage is dark grayish brown (hairs with yellowish-brown tips), ventral pelage is lighter and grayer (hairs with ashy gray tips). Ears have narrowly rounded tip and distinct notch on posterior border. Skull is small, with narrow, shallow rostrum; braincase is elevated above rostrum with distinctly higher mid-portion than the lambda; I? is bicuspid and enlarged; P* and P, are well developed and subequalto the canines and second premolars of the corresponding tooth row; C,is strongly bifid; distinguished from the Formosan Tube-nosed Bat ( H. isodon) by its relatively narrow P*, being almost as long as wide, M' with no postcingular platform, and M* without any trace of a mesostyle. Dental formula for both species of Harpiolais12/3,C1/1,P 2/2, M 3/3 (x2) = 34.

Habitat. Two Gray Tube-nosed Bats were caught over a small pool in dense forest with thick undergrowth; the speciesis also known from montane forest. Recorded at 1367-1692 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. Known only from a few specimens from Mizoram and the type locality. Agricultural expansion and human settlements may be threats.

Bibliography. Bates & Harrison (1997), Bhattacharyya (2002), Csorba, Molur, Srinivasulu & Chakravarty (2016), Kuo Haochih et al. (2006), Molur etal. (2002), Thomas (1915d).