Murina ussuriensis Ognev, 1913 —Ussurian Tube-nosed Bat

Murina ussuriensis Ognev, 1913 p.402; Type locality- Evseevka, Ussuri, Russia; Kishida & Mori, 1931 p.379; Kuroda, 1938 p.106; Han, 1994 p.45; Won & Smith, 1999 p.15; Son, 2001 p.128.

M. aurata ussuriensis: Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.185; Won, 1958 p.459; Won, 1967 p.351; Won, 1968 p.132; Yoon, 1992 p.52; Yoon, 2010 p.91.

M. aurata: Won, 1968 p.131; Corbet, 1978 p.62; Yoon, 2010 p.91.

Range: Only two specimens collected at Mt. Jiri in 1931 and three incomplete skins removed from a snake stomach in central Korea in 1959 represent M. ussuriensis in Korea (Won & Smith 1999). However, additional reports of this bat in 2011 confirmed the continued existence of the species in central Korea (Han et al. 2011; Fig. 20). This species inhabits inland montane forest (Yoon 2010).

Remarks: This species in Korea along with Japan and Russian Far-East was classified as the Subspecies M. aurata ussuriensis (Corbet 1978) . Maeda (1980) promoted M. a. ussuriensis into a full species based on skull size, forearm length, rostrum and canines (larger than M. aurata); shorter nostril; and hair cover on back of forearm. The range of M. aurata is confined to Nepal, India and central China, whereas M. ussuriensis is limited to northeastern Asia. The subspecific status of populations in Korea remains uncertain.

Conservation status: The Ministry of Environment designated M. ussuriensis in South Korea as a threatened in 2005 and an endangered species in 2018. The IUCN Red List considers this species as ‘Least Concern’. The North Korean Government classified populations as ‘Rare’ (MAB National Committee of DPR Korea 2002).