Murina beibengensis Luo, Mao & Zhou, 2025

Luo, Tao, Mao, Ming-Le, Lan, Chang-Ting, Zhao, Zi-Fa, Wang, Zhong-Lian, Yu, Jing, Wang, Jia-Jia, Yan, Chen-Rui, Xiao, Ning & Zhou, Jiang, 2025, Four new tube-nosed bat species of the genus Murina (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) from Xizang Autonomous Region, China, based on morphological and molecular data, Zoosystematics and Evolution 101 (3), pp. 1023-1055 : 1023-1055

Murina beibengensis Luo, Mao & Zhou sp. nov.

Figs 4 , 5 , Table 2 , Suppl. material 2

Holotype.

• Adult male, field number XZ 2024037 (Figs 4 , 5 , Table 2 ), collected by Tao Luo, Ming-Le Mao, Chang-Ting Lan, Zi-Fa Zhao, and Zhong-Lian Wang on 15 August 2024, from Beibeng Township , Medog County, Nyingchi City, Xizang Autonomous Region, China (29.22926454°N, 95.15008271°E; ca. 864 m. a. s. l.; Fig. 1 ).

Measurements (in mm) and body mass (in g) of the holotype.

HB: 43.25, EL: 16.18, EW: 8.61, TRL: 8.67, TRW: 2.29, HFL: 8.64, FL: 31.94, TIB: 18.42, GTL: 15.68, CCL: 12.50, BCW: 7.57, BCH: 7.78, ZYW: 8.20, MAW: 7.58, IOW: 4.24, CM 3 L: 4.98, C 1 C 1 W: 3.65, M 3 M 3 W: 4.61, RCM: 0.79, CM 3 L: 5.92, ML: 11.52, MDL: 11.98, CPH: 4.38; BW: 6.20.

Etymology.

The specific epithet beibengensis refers to the type locality of the new species: Beibeng Township, Medog County, Nyingchi City, Xizang Autonomous Region, China. We propose the common English name “ Beibeng Tube-nosed Bat ” and the Chinese name “ Bèi Bēng Guǎn Bí Fú (背崩管鼻蝠) ”.

Diagnosis.

Murina beibengensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) small-size Murina, FL 31.94 mm, GTL 15.68 mm; (2) dorsal fur orangish-yellow overall, grey at the base, gradually transitioning to orange-yellow tips halfway from the base; (3) ventral fur silvery-gray overall, dark grey at the base, with silvery-gray tips; (4) ears broadly rounded, with smoothly convex anterior margins, no notch on posterior margins; (5) forearm and wrists covered with sparse hairs; (6) wing attachment point located at 1 / 3 from base of claw to base of toe; (7) sagittal and lambdoid crests well developed; (8) I 2 is situated laterally anterior to I 3 and partially visible in the lateral view, and I 2 slightly taller than I 3; (9) mesostyles of M 1 and M 2 are reduced; (10) C 1 taller than P 4, P 2 smaller than P 4 in height, and crown area of P 2 larger than 2 / 3 that of P 4; (11) P 2 approximately equal to P 4 in height, with a basal area 2 / 3 that of P 4; (12) C 1 larger than P 4 in height and basal area; (13) mandibular foramina clearly visible, situated below P 2.

Description.

Morphometric data of Murina beibengensis sp. nov. are provided in Table 2 and Suppl. material 2. Small-size Murina, HB 43.25 mm, FL 31.94 mm, EL 16.18 mm, HFL 8.64 mm, and BW 6.20 g. Nostrils tubular, open sideways, and slightly short. Ears small, short, oval, blunt at tips, with smoothly convex anterior margins, not notched on posterior margin. Tragus short, narrow, and tapering toward a pointed tip, with slightly convex anterior margin, concave posterior margin, and basal notch, and slightly curved outward, about half as long as ear. Body covered with thick and fluffy hair. Dorsal hairs orangish-yellow overall (bicolored, grayish black at the base, gradually transitioning to orange-yellow tips halfway from base). Dorsal hairs extend onto bases of wings; uropatagium, thumbs, forearm, wrist, tibia, and feet, with well-developed fringe of hairs around margin of uropatagium. Densely furred anterior 1 / 3 of the dorsal uropatagium, posterior 2 / 3 covered with sparse hairs. Ventral hairs are silvery-gray overall, tricolored, gray-white at the base, central dark gray, with silvery-gray tips. Flesh purple around the eyes, muzzle, and lower forehead, and the face is hairy except for the long, protuberant nostrils that are naked. TL 32.69 mm, tip of the tail extending significantly past the rear edge of the uropatagium, tip slightly free. Plagiopatagium attachment point located at the middle of the claw of the first toe.

Skull robust and domed, relatively small, GTL 15.68 mm. Rostrum long, deep, gradually ascending to forehead; prominent median depression present. Sagittal and lambdoid crests well developed. In dorsal view, braincase nearly rounded; zygomatic arches weak and slender, gradually widening posteriorly, widest at the base of the zygomatic arches; posterior margin of skull not protruding; middle from snout to frontal region distinctly concave downward. In lateral view, skull slightly elongated, with elongated oval braincase; height gradually rising from snout to parietal, with slightly increasing slope from snout to frontal and decreasing slope from frontal to parietal; slight depression between snout and frontal, without distinct prominence at frontal; zygomatic arches gradually rising from anterior to posterior, highest at the middle of zygomatic arches. In ventral view, palatine wide and nearly flat, ending at midpoint of C 1; basisphenoid pits slightly shallowly teardrop-shaped, extending posteriorly to anterior third of cochlea. Mandible length 11.52 mm, inverted L-shaped. Line between coronoid process and condyle nearly flat; distinct inward depression between condyle and angle; angle slightly long and wide; mandibular foramina clearly visible, situated below P 2.

Dental morphology: Dental formula is I 2 / 3, C 1 / 1, P 2 / 2, M 3 / 3 = 34 (Fig. 5 ). In the maxilla, I 2 is situated laterally anterior to I 3 and partially visible in the lateral view; the crown area of P 2 larger than 2 / 3 that of P 4 and smaller than that of C 1. Based on these characters, the species belongs to the “ cyclotis - type ”. Maxillary dentition converges slightly anteriorly (RCM = 0.79). I 2 and I 3 bicuspid, smaller secondary cusp situated posterior to primary cusp; I 2 is slightly taller than I 3, with a crown area half that of I 3; distinct gap between posterior of I 3 and C 1, not in contact, about 1 / 3 of height of C 1. C 1 taller than P 4, slightly elongated and lacking secondary cusps, crown area approximately equal to P 4; P 2 is slightly smaller, delicate and pointed, about 4 / 5 as high as P 4 and 2 / 3 as high as C 1, crown area of P 2 is 2 / 3 that of P 4. Mesostyles of M 1 and M 2 are reduced, but retaining distinct cusps; paracone, protocone, metacone, and parastyle well developed. M 3 are reduced, with only parastyle, paracone, and protocone. In the mandible, the first, second, and third lower incisors (I 1, I 2, and I 3) smaller, tricuspid, nearly equal in height and width; slight overlap of outer cusps of I 1, I 2, and I 3 with gradual increase in height from I 1 to C 1. C 1 contains pointed cusp on anterior inner margin, in contact with I 3 outer cusp, exceeding P 2 and P 4 in height and basal area; C 1 larger than P 4 in height and basal area. P 2 nearly equal to P 4 in height, and the basal and crown area of P 2 approximately 2 / 3 that of P 4. In lateral view, trigonids of M 1, M 2, and M 3, metaconid, and paraconid approximately 2 / 3 as high as protoconid. Talonids of M 1 and M 2 are approximately half the size of trigonids; entoconid and hypoconid distinctly separated from trigonid, nearly equal to metaconid and paraconid in height. M 1 and M 2 are nyctalodont types, with well-developed entoconids. M 3 reduced, talonid approximately 1 / 3 as long as trigonid, paraconid, protoconid, and metaconid complete and well developed.

Morphological comparisons with congeneric species.

Based on its dentition, I 2 is situated laterally anterior to I 3, and I 2 is partially visible in the lateral view, and crown area of P 2 larger than 2 / 3 that of P 4, Murina beibengensis sp. nov. belongs to the “ cyclotis - type ” a character that distinguishes 30 species belonging to the “ suilla - type ”, I 2 is anterior to I 3, I 2 is clearly visible in the lateral view, and the crown area of P 2 is half or less than that of P 4, including M. rubella , M. aurata , M. balaensis , M. beelzebub , M. bicolor , M. chrysochaetes , M. eleryi , M. fanjingshanensis , M. feae , M. fusca , M. gracilis , M. harpioloides , M. hilgendorfi , M. hkakaboraziensis , M. jaintiana , M. jinchui , M. kontumensis , M. leucogaster , M. liboensis , M. lorelieae , M. rongjiangensis , M. ryukyuana , M. shuipuensis , M. suilla , M. tenebrosa , M. tubinaris , M. ussuriensis , M. walstoni , M. yuanyang , and M. yushuensis . Detailed morphological differences between the new species and congeners are listed in Suppl. material 5 and illustrated in Suppl. material 1: fig. S 3.

Within the “ cyclotis - type ”, Murina beibengensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from M. aenea , M. fionae , M. harrisoni , M. huttoni , M. peninsularis , and M. puta by the forearm length 31.94 mm (vs. forearm length over 33 mm); from M. annamitica , M. pluvialis , and M. recondita by lacking off-white circumferential band around the neck (vs. present); from M. cyclotis and M. guilleni by the very well-developed sagittal and lambdoid crests (vs. poorly developed); and from M. rozendaali by ventral fur silvery-gray overall (vs. yellowish white) and mesostyles of M 1 and M 2 moderately reduced (vs. well-developed).

M. florium , which is not assigned to either the “ suilla - type ” or “ cyclotis - type ”, can be distinguished by the following morphological characters: P 2 is 2 / 3 the height of P 4 (vs. P 2 equal to P 4), and the mesostyles of M 1 and M 2 are reduced (vs. well-developed).

Habitat and ecology.

The new species is only found in two areas of Xizang, China. The type specimen was captured in a broad-leaved evergreen forest near Beibeng Township, Medog County, Nyingchi City, Xizang Autonomous Region, China (about 2.8 km from the town center) using a harp net. The type locality has a subtropical climate with a mean annual temperature of 16 ° C and mean annual precipitation of 2500–3900 mm. The site is surrounded by several cash crops (e. g., tea trees and bananas). In addition, two Rhinolophus sp. , six Hipposideros armiger , three H. pratti , and one Cynopterus sphinx were captured here and in the surrounding area. Another distribution site in a cave near Riduo Township, Maizhokunggar County, Lasa City, and Xizang Autonomous Region yielded two carcasses. This site has a highland temperate semi-arid monsoon climate, with a mean annual temperature of 0.8 ° C, mean annual precipitation of 350 mm, and sparse surrounding vegetation. Accordingly, we hypothesize that this new species may have a wider distribution in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.

Remark.

Two genetic samples, field numbers XZ 2024 B 05 and XZ 2024 B 12, gender unknown, collected from a cave near Riduo Township, Maizhokunggar County, Lasa City, and Xizang Autonomous Region, China (29.69274086°N, 92.24386096°E, 4414 m) on 12 August 2024. These two samples occurred as dry and decomposed carcasses; no morphological data could be obtained, and only muscle tissue was preserved for sequencing.

Figures

Figure 1. Geographical distribution of recognized species and the four new species of the genus Murina in Asia. The base maps are from the Standard Map Service website (http://bzdt.ch.mnr.gov.cn/index.html; Map Approval No. GS (2020) 4619).

Figure 4. External morphological characteristics of Murina beibengensis sp. nov. in living holotype, XZ 2024037. A. Lateral view; B. Ventral view; C. Dorsal view of the body and uropatagium; D. Ventral hairs; E. Dorsal hairs; F. Hindfoot ventral view; G. Hindfoot dorsal view.

Figure 5. Micro-CT reconstruction of the skull of Murina beibengensis sp. nov. holotype, XZ 2024037. A. Lateral view; B. Dorsal view; C. Ventral view; D. Frontal view of mandible.