Murina cf. aurata Milne–Edwards, 1872

Saikia, Uttam, Chakravarty, Rohit, Csorba, Gabor, Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed & Ruedi, Manuel, 2025, Taxonomic reassessment of bats from the Western Himalayas, India and description of a new species of the Myotis frater complex (Mammalia, Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae), Zootaxa 5644 (1), pp. 1-78 : 46-47

22. Murina cf. aurata Milne–Edwards, 1872

(Little Tube–nosed Bat)

New material: Five released individuals: 1 M, 04.04.2018, Mandal village ; 1 F , 13.04.2018, Ansuya; 1 M, 31.03.2019, Mandal ; 1 M and 1 F , 27.04.2021, Kanchula, Chamoli district , Uttarakhand .

Morphological description of specimen: All individuals were identified in the field by their small size ( FA =27.0– 30.5 mm), long, dense, blackish hairs with golden tips, and lack of emargination on the posterior border of the ear.

DNA: no biological material was obtained from this species.

Locality records and ecological notes: An adult male was caught over a pool of water in dense primary oak forest in April 2018 in Mandal village (1600 m) in Chamoli district. Another male was caught over a shallow, shaded stream at the edge of an oak forest in the same area. In Ansuya and Kanchula, several individuals were caught in clearings in oak and mixed oak–maple forests respectively. Chakravarty et al. (2020) reported the occurrence of a further individual from Ansuya (2000 m). The two females caught in Ansuya and Kanchula were pregnant. These Uttarakhand records are the only known from Western Himalayas, while the species was reported in Nepal, Sikkim, and further east in China ( Bates & Harrison 1997; Wang et al. 2025). The Laos and Vietnam records of Mu. aurata ( Kruskop 2005; Francis et al. 1999; Francis et al. 2010) were based on mis–identified specimens ( Kruskop 2013; Thomas et al. 2013).

Taxonomic notes: There are several small species of Murina ( Mu. aurata , Mu. balaensis , Mu. chrysochaetes , Mu. eleryi , Mu. gracilis , Mu. harpioloides , Mu. yushuensis ) with different intensity of shiny golden colour in the dorsal pelage; the diversity of this group is only just beginning to be understood. Their identification is only possible by integrated analysis of cranial and dental traits and DNA sequences. Since no such data are available for the specimens reported here, their classification as Mu. cf. aurata is tentative and based solely on the known distribution of the species described so far in the aurata group; the question can only be decided by detailed examination of additional specimens.