identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
03BB87E9FFE52D2FFF6DFE9EFB24FD40.text	03BB87E9FFE52D2FFF6DFE9EFB24FD40.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Sphaerias blanfordi (Thomas 1891)	<div><p>1. Sphaerias blanfordi (Thomas, 1891)</p><p>(Blanford’s Fruit Bat)</p><p>New material: 1 F, 14.05.2019, Kanchula, Kedarnath WLS, Uttarakhand (released) .</p><p>Morphological description of specimen: An adult female was caught in a clearing at a mixed oak–maple forest. It had a forearm length of 52.8 mm. The muzzle was short, and the ears had a thin white anterior margin. Tail was absent and the interfemoral membrane and hindfeet were densely covered with hairs. Two pairs of lower incisors were visible. It also had two tufts of yellowish hairs on either side of the neck.</p><p>DNA: no biological material was obtained from this species.</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Himachal Pradesh: Not recorded. Uttarakhand: Dogalbita (2370 m), Kanchula (2600 m), Chamoli district; Sukhidhang (1380 m), Almora district; Dharchula (920 m), Dummer (1540 m), Khela (1540 m) and Tawaghat (1140 m), Pithoragarh district (Bhat 1974; present study) .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFE52D2FFF6DFE9EFB24FD40	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFE52D2CFF6DFCE5FCC0FC28.text	03BB87E9FFE52D2CFF6DFCE5FCC0FC28.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Tadarida insignis (Blyth 1862)	<div><p>2. Tadarida insignis (Blyth, 1862)</p><p>(East Asian free–tailed bat)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 07.04.2021, Mandal village, Chamoli District, Uttarakhand, V /M/ERS/651 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimen: The adult male specimen had brown dorsal pelage and lighter brown ventral fur. Individual hairs were short, tips brownish and the bases were creamy white. It had a forearm length of 62.2 mm. The feet were covered with long grey hairs, and small fleshy callosities were present on the sole. The thumb bore a small claw and a prominent thumb pad (2.5 mm in diameter) was present. The tail membrane was essentially naked except for the dorsal region closer to rump and fringes which were covered with short grey hair. The ventral side of the tail membrane was perceptibly lighter coloured than the dorsal side. About one third of the tail protruded out of the membrane and this protruding portion was brownish in colour. Ears were large and broad and closely positioned over the forehead with 8–9 vertical ridges. Ear fringes were covered with short grey hairs on the ventral side. Tragus was shorter, with a slightly constricted basal portion. The plagiopatagium was inserted just above the tibio–metatarsal joint. The penis was pendulous and without any special modifications, the scrotal area was distinctively white coloured.</p><p>The skull was robustly built and elongated. The anterior part of the braincase was slightly raised ending in a concavity posteriorly. The lamboid region was also slightly raised. The sagittal crest was absent but lateral lamboid crests were present. The coronoid process in mandible was high and reaching almost to the level of lower canines (Fig. 7).</p><p>DNA: We obtained a fragment of 651 bp of the COI gene from this male individual. Compared to homologous sequences from genuine European Ta. teniotis (e.g., Portuguese GB KY581661 or Swiss GB OQ 706681) or from Ta. aegyptiaca from India (GB MG821187), this Uttarakhand specimen was clearly very divergent (11–15% K2P distance) and thus did not belong to either of these two species. It was, however, minimally divergent (0.7–0.8% K2P distance) from Asian sequences labelled as Ta. insignis (e.g., from Japan GB MK410371) or as Ta. latouchei (e.g., from South Korea GB MK177282).</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Dehradun City (670 m), Dehradun District; Taapu Sera (1007 m), Tehri Garhwal district; Mandal village (2000 m), Chamoli district (Chakravarty et al. 2020; present study). This is the first mention of Ta. insignis from India, but at the same time implies that previous mentions of Ta. teniotis from India represent this species. The Uttarakhand records also extend the westward range of this species by a considerable c. 2500 km. It may be mentioned that based on acoustic call signatures, Ta. teniotis was recently reported from Kali Gandaki canyon of Central Nepal (Sharma et al. 2021) which might also represent Ta. insignis indicating widespread occurrence across the Himalayan range. The present specimen was attracted to the trapping site by playing social calls of Ta. teniotis recorded in Portugal and was caught in a mist net. A strong and high–flier and preferring to roost in hilly inaccessible areas (Chakravarty 2017), this species is always difficult to catch and possibly is one of the reasons for its scant records from the country. The echolocation calls from individuals in Uttarakhand had a max–min frequency range of 31.6–9.9 kHz and was described in Chakravarty et al. (2020) as Ta. teniotis .</p><p>Taxonomic note: The taxonomic status of Ta. teniotis in India must be reconsidered. There are indeed close similarities in external and craniodental measurements between Ta. teniotis and its Oriental congener Ta. insignis, but according to Benda et al. (2015) the former is a Western Palaearctic species which reaches its eastern limit in Afghanistan, and thus should not be distributed in India. This view is clearly corroborated by our molecular comparisons with up to 15% sequence divergence between European Ta. teniotis and Oriental Ta. insignis (Table S3). Previous mentions of Ta. “ teniotis ” from India (e.g., Hill 1963, Deshpande &amp; Kelkar 2015, Chakravarty 2017) and elsewhere in the Oriental Region (e.g., Sharma et al. 2020, Taylor 2019, Francis et al. 2010) therefore most likely represent Ta. insignis .</p><p>Regarding the two Tadarida species endemic to the Oriental Region ( Ta. insignis and Ta. latouchei), external and craniodental measurements of the specimen from Uttarakhand (e.g., FA 62.2 mm) is more akin to the larger Ta. insignis (FA&gt; 60 mm), whereas Ta. latouchei is considerably smaller (FA&lt;57 mm; Funakoshi &amp; Kunisaki 2000). However, we found minimal genetic distances (&lt;1%) among all Asian Tadarida variously labelled as “teniotis ”, insignis or latouchei, and sampled over considerable geographic distances (i.e., from India to Japan). Some of these sequences are based on vouchered specimens with verifiable morphological identification, which suggest that typical (large) Ta. insignis (e.g., HNHM–MAM 25862 and 25864, both from Yunnan, China) may share virtually identical mitochondrial sequences with typical (small) Ta. latouchei (ROM MAM 118321 from Laos). Thus, based on mitochondrial markers these two Asian molossids cannot be discriminated and nuclear markers should be investigated before further taxonomic decisions can be taken.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFE52D2CFF6DFCE5FCC0FC28	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFE72D2DFF6DFF66FD9EFABC.text	03BB87E9FFE72D2DFF6DFF66FD9EFABC.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Rhinolophus affinis Horsfield 1823	<div><p>3. Rhinolophus affinis Horsfield, 1823</p><p>(Intermediate horseshoe bat)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 30.05.2017, Bank of river Narag, Devthal, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/416 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimen: The average forearm length was 53.3 mm in three measured males. The specimens were rusty brown dorsally and buffy brown ventrally. Dorsal hairs were grayish white with brownish tips and ventral hairs were also whitish except for the light brown tips. The ear of specimen 416 was smaller at 19.6 mm. The superior connecting process of the sella was broadly rounded off when viewed laterally. The lancet was straight sided and pointed. The lower lips had three mental grooves. The 3 rd metacarpal (39.5 mm) was slightly shorter than 4 th (41.3 mm). The first phalanx of the 3 rd metacarpal (15.9 mm) was characteristically short, much less than half the length of the metacarpal. The 2 nd phalanx (30 mm) is 75% of the length of the metacarpal.</p><p>The baculum of the collected male was 2.16 mm in length and 0.77 mm in width at the base. The tip was pointed, and the basal cone was deeply emarginated on the ventral side and the emargination was little shallow on the dorsal side. In lateral profile, it was bent forward forming an elongated C–like structure.</p><p>DNA: We obtained 684 bp of the COI gene from the individual from Solan (M 2197/ V /M/ERS/ 416), which was identical to that of Rh. affinis from Uttarakhand (GB MN339197) or very close to one individual from Meghalaya (M1927, released). Its CYTB (1140 bp) sequence was similar to various individuals from Meghalaya (e.g., M1604) or China (e.g., GB EF544419) at about 3.5% divergence. In NJ reconstructions, Rh. affinis from throughout continental Asia always formed a strongly supported, monophyletic clade distinct from other species of rhinolophids (Figs 3 and 5).</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Himachal Pradesh: Barog tunnel (1560 m), Happy valley near Solan town (1550 m), Kot Beja (1100 m) and Devthal (963 m) in Solan district (Saikia et al. 2011; present study). Uttarakhand: Kaladhungi (400 m) and Bilaspur (1380 m) near Bhim Tal in Naini Tal district; Maldevta (850 m), Landour (2000 m), and Benog WLS (1755 m) in Dehradun district, Devalsari (1700 m) and Dhanaulti (2100 m) in Tehri–Garhwal district, (Bhat 1974; Bates &amp; Harriosn 1997; Chakravarty et al. 2020).</p><p>Three males were caught (two were released upon measuring) from inside an ancient gold mine of about 13 m length and about 1 m in diameter on the bank of a river. They were roosting in three groups of 3–20 individuals sharing space with some Hi. armiger . They had FM–CF–FM structure, and the peak frequency (FmaxE) recorded from our Himachal individuals ranged between 79 and 81 kHz. This was lower than those previously recorded in Uttarakhand i.e., 88 kHz (Chakravarty et al. 2020) suggesting geographical variations which is common in rhinolophid bats (Sun et al. 2013).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFE72D2DFF6DFF66FD9EFABC	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFE72D33FF6DFA3AFD91FB49.text	03BB87E9FFE72D33FF6DFA3AFD91FB49.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Rhinolophus nippon Temminck 1835	<div><p>4. Rhinolophus nippon Temminck, 1835</p><p>(Japanese greater horseshoe bat)</p><p>New material: 1 F, 31.05.2017, Barog Tunnel, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/ 403; 1 M , 02.06.2017, Mount Karol, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/402 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimens: Four individuals from Himachal Pradesh were examined of which two were old museum specimens. They had an average forearm length of 60.5 mm. One of the females had the largest forearm length of 62.5 mm and longest ear at 27 mm. Dorsally, the pelage was light golden brown while the belly was slightly lighter in colour. The dorsal hairs had light brown tips and dark brown roots. Ears were pointed at the tip with 8–9 ridges on the inner side. The horseshoe width was 7.2–7.3 mm, the median emargination of the horseshoe was broad. The superior connecting process of sella was rounded off when viewed laterally (Fig. 8A). The lancet was pointed at the tip and sides are concave. The lower lip had three mental grooves, the middle one extended forward. On average, the 3 rd metacarpal was 9.2% shorter than the 4 th. The length of first phalanges of the 3 rd metacarpal was 52.8 % of the length of the metacarpal.</p><p>The skull was robust (zygomatic width considerably exceeding mastoid width) with an average greatest length of 24.77 mm. A well–developed sagittal crest was present which bifurcated anteriorly forming a shallow nasal pit and extended posteriorly till the lambda, albeit weakly. Prominent lamboid crests were present laterally. The palate was highly emarginated, its anterior margin extending till the middle of the first molar and the posterior border resting approximately at the level of the line drawn between M 2 and M 3 (Fig. 9B).</p><p>DNA: We obtained 651 bp of the COI gene and 1140 bp of the CYTB from one individual captured in Mt Karol (M 2215/ V /M/ERS/402), which represents the first DNA evidence from northern Indian specimens of the Rh. ferrumequinum species complex. None of the CYTB sequences available in the GeneBank matched the Himachal Pradesh sample, the most similar sequence (at 5% K2P distance) being that of a sample from Yunnan (GB ON640696) and labelled as “ Rh. ferrumequinum ” (Table S2). The COI gene also gave similar results, the closest match (at 3.4% K2P distance) being Asian samples from southern China (e.g., from Zhejiang, GB OR 467324), or a sample of Rh. nippon from Japan (GB KT779432) at 3.5% divergence. Western Palaearctic and some Central Asian sequences of genuine Rh. ferrumequinum s.s. were all more divergent,&gt;5% for the COI (e.g., GB OQ 706678), or&gt;6.5% for the CYTB (e.g., GB OQ 885419) (see Tables S2 and S 3). Thus, both molecular markers suggest that the Himachal Pradesh sample is a unique and rather distinctive lineage. However, its phylogenetic position with respect to the two major mitochondrial clades assigned respectively to ferrumequinum and nippon by Koh et al. (2014) places it as sister to the latter with strong bootstrap support (Figs 3 and 5). Consistent with our results, Uvizl et al. (2024) also pointed that the smaller Central Asian Rh. bocharicus was also part of this species complex but distinct from other species.</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Himachal Pradesh: Barog Tunnel (1560 m), Lutru Cave near Arki (1550 m), Mount Karol (1890 m), Solan Town (1500 m) in Solan District (Saikia et al. 2011; present study); Chakmoh (c. 760 m), Hamirpur District (Ghosh 2008); Chamba (c. 1000 m), Chamba District (Chakraborty 1977); Kullu Valley, Manali (1950 m) Kullu District (Allen 1908; Lindsay 1927); Mandi (c. 1050 m), Mandi District (Ghosh 2008); Ghannati (c. 1640m), Shimla (2100 m), Tottu (c. 1900 m) in Shimla District (Dodsworth 1913; Bates &amp; Harrison 1997; Ghosh 2008). Uttarakhand: Katarmal (1380 m) and Almora (c. 1600 m) in Almora district and Mussorie (2000 m) in Dehradun district (Bhat 1974; Bates &amp; Harrison 1997). A female specimen was caught at about 300 m inside Barog tunnel (1530 m asl). They were seen roosting in two small groups with females carrying babies. We could record two other rhinolophids namely Rh. lepidus and Rh. perniger inside the tunnel although in lesser numbers. Another specimen was caught in a mist net at Mount Karol (1850 m) inside oak forest. A cave located nearby this forest patch held a breeding population of Rh. sinicus although no Rh. nippon could be observed there.</p><p>Taxonomic note: Traditionnally, Rh. ferrumequinum was considered as a single, polytypic species spanning the entire Palearctic region, from Europe to Japan, and parts of northern Oriental Region (e.g. Bates &amp; Harrison 1997; Csorba et al. 2003). Bates &amp; Harrison (1997) showed that northern India was inhabited by two distinct forms, a smaller one found in Kashmir (proximus Andersen, 1905), and a larger one ( tragatus Hodgson, 1835) found in Himachal Pradesh to Nepal, Arunachal Pradesh and southern China (Csorba et al. 2003). Recent revisions based on molecular and morphological characters (Koh et al. 2014; Uvizl et al. 2024) showed that Rh ferrumequinum is a species complex, represented in Asia by the nominal species in the western half of the continent, by the smaller Rh. bocharicus in Central Asia and by Rh. nippon further east to the Japanese Archipelago. The exact geographic extent of each species though was unclear owing to inadequate sampling from the Himalayan region. We show here that the taxon tragatus from Himachal Pradesh is genetically closely related, but morphologically slightly distinct from Rh. nippon, and thus should be considered as a distinctive subspecies of the latter (i.e., Rh. nippon tragatus). Under this concept, Himachal Pradesh would represent the westernmost limit of distribution of Rh. nippon, while further west Rh. ferrumequinum s.s. occur. According to this suggested taxonomic arrangement, the smaller form from Kashmir (proximus) might represent the easternmost representative of Rh. ferrumequinum s.s., pending new genetic analyses to address its extact phylogenetic relationships. However, as some species of Rhinolophus may show instances of mitonchdrial introgression, blurring phylogenetic relationships (Dool et al. 2016; Uvizl et al. 2024), taxonomic conclusions should ideally be based on several independent DNA markers, which is currently lacking for Himalayan specimens.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFE72D33FF6DFA3AFD91FB49	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFF92D30FF6DFAAFFB92FAD8.text	03BB87E9FFF92D30FF6DFAAFFB92FAD8.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Rhinolophus lepidus Blyth 1844	<div><p>5. Rhinolophus lepidus Blyth, 1844</p><p>(Blyth’s horseshoe bat)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 31.05.2017, Barog Tunnel, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/491; 1 M , 01.06.2017, Saproon cave, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/492; 1 F, 15.04.21, Ansuya, Chamoli District, Uttarakhand, V /M/ERS/656 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimens: The examined specimens had average forearm length of 38.8 mm. The dorsal pelage was cinnamon brown, individual hairs were buff with cinnamon brown tips. Ventrum was lighter brown with bicoloured hairs. In lateral view, the tip of the triangular connecting process was broadly rounded off compared to more acute shape in R. pusillus (Bates &amp; Harrison 1997) . The tip of the lancet in our specimens had straight sides for about 1.7 mm and then rounded off broadly. There were three mental grooves in the lower lips. The 3 rd metacarpal was shorter, and 4 th and 5 th were subequal.</p><p>The skull had a mean GTLi value of 16.38 mm and almost all cranial measurements overlaped with values for R. pusillus with which this Himalayan form was mostly confused (Bates &amp; Harrison 1997; Csorba et al. 2003). The sagittal crest, although weak, extended to the anterior portion of the lamboid region; this was unlike R. pusillus from northeastern India (e.g., V /M/ERS/ 722) wherein the weak sagittal crest flattened off in the posterior sagittal region. The upper canine was well developed exceeding the length of the second premolar. The first upper premolar was minute and situated on the toothrow; the canine and the second premolar were not in contact. The small lower third premolar was aligned with the toothrow and second and fourth premolars were not in contact.</p><p>The bacular shape was characteristic, elongated and S–shaped. The dorsal edge of the basal cone was shorter than the ventral one. The shaft gradually tapered towards the tip which was wide and roundish. The baculum of specimen V /M/ERS/491 was 3.52 mm in length and 0.95 mm wide at the base.</p><p>DNA: We obtained up to 702 bp of the COI from two individuals sampled in Himachal Pradesh (M 2203/ V /M/ERS/491, M 2209/ V /M/ERS/492) representing the smaller, northwestern subspecies Rh. lepidus monticola . Sequences were most closely related to Rh. shortridgei from northern Myanmar or to Rh. monticolus from Thailand (within 1.2% sequence divergence). One COI sequence from South India (GB MG821186, Srinivasulu et al. unpublished) refereable to the larger, nominal subspecies Rh. l. lepidus differed slightly more (up to 3%). All these sequences formed a poorly resolved clade within the pusillus species complex (Fig. 3), as already evidenced by Soisook et al. (2016).</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Himachal Pradesh: Drang (c. 780 m), Mandi District (Ghosh 2008); Kullu (c. 1200 m), Kullu District (Ghosh 2008); Barog Tunnel (1560 m), Saproon cave (1500 m) and Salogra cave (1440 m) (present study). Uttarakhand: Ansuya Devi (2000–2582 m), Benog WLS (1755 m), Mandal (1530 m) Chamoli district, Khati (2300 m), Almora (1600 m),Almora District (Wroughton 1914 as R. monticola; Chakravarty et al. 2020; present study); Ranibag (757 m), Nainital District (Wroughton 1914).</p><p>This species was roosting inside the Barog tunnel, Salogra temple cave and a cave in Saproon although earlier surveys in some of these sites failed to find the species (Saikia et al. 2011). In Barog tunnel, a few non–breeding individuals were found along with a few Rh. affinis . In Salogra and Saproon caves, they were observed in higher numbers (c.100 individuals) sharing roosting space with Rh. sinicus and My. longipes . The peak call frequency of Himachal specimens was recorded at 98–100 kHz, which is slightly less than those recorded in Uttarakhand 101–109 kHz (Chakravarty et al. 2020). This frequency does not overlap with any other species in the study area and thus provides a reliable identification clue in the field.</p><p>Taxonomic note: The small rhinolophids of the Oriental Region are members of the Rh. pusillus species complex (Csorba et al. 2003) and represent another group in a stage of taxonomic uncertainty (Hutson et al. 2019). Recenty, Soisook et al. (2016) revised Indochinese taxa and concluded that several morphologically distinct taxa should warrant species rank although all were genetically poorly differentiated (mostly within 4% sequence divergence). As detailed by Bates &amp; Harrison (1997) this uncertainty in species discrimination is a long–standing problem in the Himalayan foothills as well. Indeed, the distinctly smaller subspecies Rh. lepidus monticola living in this region overlaps in size and craniodental characteristics with the larger specimens of Rh. pusillus (Bates &amp; Harrison 1997; Csorba et al. 2003). Our samples from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand were sampled closer to the type locality of Rh. [l.] monticola (Mussorie; Andersen 1905) and all keyed out morphologically as typical Rh. l. monticola . These samples, however, were also genetically very similar (within 1.7% divergence) to other specimens sampled elsewhere in the Oriental Region, casting doubts about their specific distinctness. Clearly, nuclear markers are needed to solve this taxonomic conundrum within the pusillus species complex.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFF92D30FF6DFAAFFB92FAD8	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFFA2D31FF6DFA1FFC1CFF74.text	03BB87E9FFFA2D31FF6DFA1FFC1CFF74.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Rhinolophus pearsonii Horsefield 1851	<div><p>6. Rhinolophus pearsonii Horsfield, 1851</p><p>(Pearson’s horseshoe bat)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 03.05.21, Ansuya, Chamoli District, Uttarakhand, V /M/ERS/657.</p><p>Morphological description of specimens: A medium sized horseshoe bat with forearm length of 53.9 mm in the Uttarakhand specimen. The pelage was long and woolly, dorsally chestnut brown, slightly paler on the belly. Ears were very long compared to the body size. The noseleaf was similar to the Northern woolly horseshoe bat but without the circular basal lappets in the former. The horseshoe was broad covering the entire muzzle and had a wide and deep emargination. When viewed laterally, the superior connecting process of the sella was rounded, deflected downward but the inferior surface was almost straight. The lancet was triangular with a relatively pointed tip. The lower lip had a single mental groove. The tail membrane was characteristically covered with hairs on the upper surface.</p><p>DNA: No biological sample from the Western Himalayas could be obtained for DNA analyses.</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Ansuya (2580 m), Mandal (1530 m), Chamoli district; Mussoorie (2000 m), Dehradun district; Narkota (1350 m), Rudraprayag district; Loharkhet (1800 m) Bageshwar district (Bates &amp; Harrison, 1997; Chakravarty et al. 2020; present study).</p><p>The individual from Uttarakhand was caught in a mistnet covering a narrow trail in primary oak forest. Su. caliginosus, My. muricola, and Murina sp. were also caught in the same net. The echolocation call peak frequency was recorded at ~60 kHz and overlaps with the smaller Rh. macrotis .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFFA2D31FF6DFA1FFC1CFF74	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFFB2D36FF6DF985FD32FC61.text	03BB87E9FFFB2D36FF6DF985FD32FC61.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Rhinolophus perniger Hodgson 1843	<div><p>7. Rhinolophus perniger Hodgson, 1843</p><p>(Northern Woolly horseshoe bat)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 31.05.2017, Barog Tunnel, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh , V /M/ERS/ 400 and three relased individuals at Mandal, Uttarakhand .</p><p>Morphological description of specimens: The largest rhinolophid in the Indian subcontinent with average forearm length of 71.7 mm in the Western Himalayan specimens. The forearm of the released individuals averaged 71.59 mm.A distinctive bat with long woolly fur, dorsally dark brown to black with lighter tips in some hairs giving a frosted appearance.Ventral fur was little lighter,but in some individuals, this was not noticeable.Horseshoe was broad, extending beyond the margins of upper lip. There was a deep median emargination on the horseshoe dividing it into two halves. The sella base had pronounced circular basal lappets on either side.The connecting process of the sella was rounded off downward and forward. The lancet was broadly rounded off. The lower lip had only one mental groove.</p><p>DNA: We obtained 713 bp of the COI gene from a single individual captured in the Barog tunnel (M 2204/ V /M/ERS/400), which is the first DNA evidence from a Himalayan specimen and representing topotypical material of Rh. perniger . This north Indian sample was very similar (within 2% sequence divergence) to other samples from China or the Indochinese Peninsula (e.g., northern Laos, M1210), but were more distinct (≥ 3% sequence divergence) from individuals representing the Lesser Woolly horseshoebat Rh. beddomei sampled in Sri Lanka (GB HM541415) or southern India (GB OQ 921889) (Fig. 3).</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Himachal Pradesh:Arki (900 m), Shalaghat (1200 m) and Barog tunnel (1560 m) in Solan district (Saikia et al. 2011; present study). Uttarakhand: Jharipani (1410 m) in Dehradun district; Maldevta (846 m) in Tehri–Garhwal district; Pangot (1976 m) in Nainital district; Mussoorie (2000 m) in Dehradun district (Chakravarty et al. 2020; Dobson 1878).</p><p>A lone roosting male individual was caught inside Barog tunnel. Previous observations from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand also indicate its solitary roosting habit in caves and abandoned man–made structures (Saikia et al. 2011; Chakravarty et al. 2020). The peak call frequency of the Himachal individual was 31–32 kHz which is similar to that reported from Uttarakhand (Chakravarty et al. 2020). This frequency is the lowest amongst the rhinolophid bats in the study area, thereby aiding unambiguous acoustic identification in the field.</p><p>Taxonomic note: Rh. luctus, a member of the trifoliatus group (Csorba et al. 2003), was long considered as a polytypic and widespread species found across most of the Oriental Region. However, based on a combination of chromosomal, acoustic, bacular and morphological characters several subspecies were recently elevated to species rank and few new taxa were recognized (e.g., Volleth et al. 2015, 2017), including the Indomalayan Rh. perniger . Our new, topotypical genetic data support that Himalayan Rh. perniger and most Chinese specimens are indeed highly similar and should be conspecific (Fig. 3) as they are phylogenetically distinct from the smaller, South Indian and Sri Lankan Rh. beddomei (Srinivasulu et al. 2023) . However, more extensive comparative studies, notably from the Sundaland (terra typica of Rh. luctus is Java), are still needed to firmly establish relationships within the whole Rh. luctus species complex (Volleth et al. 2017).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFFB2D36FF6DF985FD32FC61	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFFC2D37FF6DFB87FEABFD40.text	03BB87E9FFFC2D37FF6DFB87FEABFD40.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Rhinolophus macrotis Blyth 1844	<div><p>8. Rhinolophus macrotis Blyth, 1844</p><p>(Big–eared horseshoe Bat)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 04.06.2017, Mount Karol, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/ 564 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimens: The adult male was caught in a harp trap set in an oak forest atop Mount Karol in Solan district. The dorsal fur of the specimen was buff brown with whitish roots and light brown tips. The ventrum appeared little lighter, individual hairs white with light brown tips. Compared to the size of the animal (e.g., FA 41.4 mm), the long ears (23.8 mm) were very prominent. The sella was unlike that of any other rhinolophids in India: it was parallel–sided, broad (2.9 mm at base), and the apex was rounded off and deflected downwards (Bates &amp; Harrison 1997). When viewed laterally, our specimen had superior connecting process broadly rounded off, the anterior surface of the sella was slightly emarginated beneath the connecting process (Fig. 10A).</p><p>The baculum was 3.60 mm in length and 1.13 mm in width at the base. The baculum was flattened dorsoventrally with a roundish tip. In lateral profile, the distal end was slightly bent forward.</p><p>DNA: We obtained the COI sequence of 705 bp from this individual from Himachal Pradesh (M 2216/ V /M/ERS/ 564). Compared to other rhinolophids, the least divergent sequence was that of a Rh. marshalli from Cambodia at 3.5% (GB MW981437), but this is only slightly lower than other sequences variously labelled as Rh. siamensis or Rh. macrotis (at 4–5% divergence). To obtain meaningful compraisons with the most recent review of this group (Liu et al. 2019), we also sequenced the CYTB (1140 bp) of the same Himachal Pradesh specimen, which was divergent at about 3.1% K2P from a sequence from Nepal (GB MN077655). According to this genetic marker, other taxa within the macrotis species complex, e.g., Rh. siamensis, Rh. osgoodi or Rh. episcopus were slightly more divergent at 3.5–4.5% (Table S2).</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Jharipani (1600 m) and Mussorrie (2000 m), Dehradun district (Blanford 1888–91; Chakravarty et al. 2020) . Himachal Pradesh: Mount Karol (1850 m), Solan district . This is the first record of this species from Himachal Pradesh.</p><p>The specimen was caught in a harp trap set over a forest gully with some puddles at Mount Karol in the outskirts of Solan town. The trapping site was essentially dominated by various species of oak trees ( Quercus spp.). The harp trap was set for the whole night and along with this specimen, an individual of Murina huttonii was also captured.</p><p>The peak frequency was recorded at 62 kHz which overlaps with that of R. pearsonii recorded in Uttarakhand (Chakravarty et al. 2020).</p><p>Taxonomic note: Traditionally, Rh. macrotis is characterised by a suite of external and craniodental characters like large ears, well–developed lancet with a rounded tip, weak canines, and long palatal bridge (Csorba et al. 2003). However, in recent times it was suggested that Rh. macrotis is a species complex with a number of cryptic species (Sun et al. 2008; Tu et al. 2017). More recent integrative taxonomic assessment of this species from Vietnam and China (Liu et al. 2019) indicates that Rh. macrotis in continental Asia includes three closely related taxa which are distinguishable from genuine Rh. macrotis s.s. i.e. Rh. episcopus, Rh. osgoodi and Rh. siamensis . The same autors also showed that reticulate evolution through introgressive hybridization was the main cause of several incongruences between phylogenetic reconstructions based on mitochondrial versus nuclear markers.</p><p>Due to the lack of sufficient phenotypic, bioacoustic and molecular data from topotypic material and also from specimens across its supposed distribution range in India, the taxonomic status of this complex remains indeterminate in India. Nevertheless, the limited genetic and echolocation call data suggest that our Himachal specimen and the one reported from Uttarakhand (Chakravarty et al. 2020) (closer to the type locality in Nepal) may represent true Rh. macrotis .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFFC2D37FF6DFB87FEABFD40	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFFE2D34FF6DFF2EFC02F935.text	03BB87E9FFFE2D34FF6DFF2EFC02F935.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Rhinolophus sinicus Thomas 1915	<div><p>9. Rhinolophus sinicus Thomas, 1915</p><p>(Chinese horseshoe bat)</p><p>New material: 1 F, 01.06.2017, Salogra cave, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/422; 1 F , 01.06.2017, Saproon cave, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/404 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimens: Our specimens had a forearm length of 47.9–50.2 mm. Pelage was golden brown dorsoventrally with slightly paler belly. Ears were shorter (17.6–19.1 mm). In specimen V /M/ ERS/404, the lancet had a well–defined longish tip immediately followed by a triangular base (Fig. 8B). In lateral view, the superior connecting process of sella was broadly rounded off. The lancet was broad with a well–defined short tip; the superior connecting process of the sella was round with the base of the sella projecting slightly forwards and downwards. Mental grooves were three in number. In the wings, the third and fourth metacarpals were almost equal in length, whereas the fifth was slightly longer. The second phalanx of the third metacarpal was longer at 22.5 mm on average. Thus, externally the Himachal Pradesh Rh. sinicus specimens corresponded well with the descriptions given in Thomas (2000) and Csorba et al. (2003).</p><p>The skulls had average condylocanine length of 17.77 mm. The zygomatic arches were flared with average width of 10.77 mm which was greater than the mastoid breadth (9.54 mm). Average palate length was 2.40 mm. The anterior border of the palate lied at the level of paracone of the first molar and the posterior border lied at the level of metastyle of second molars.</p><p>DNA: We obtained COI sequences of 705 bp from two individuals from Himachal Pradesh (M2070 and M 2208/ V /M/ERS/404), which proved to be almost identical. We also obtained a full length CYTB from one specimen (M2070). Reconsturctions based on both mitochondrial markers consistently grouped all these lineages with sequences from China assigned by Mao et al. (2017) to either Rh. sinicus or Rh. thomasi at about 5 % or less divergence from each other (Figs 3 and 5). Interestingly, these lineages formed a strongly supported monophyletic clade which excluded the other members of the group, Rh. rouxii and the Peninsular Indian clade (Chattopadhyay et al. 2012).</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Himachal Pradesh: Happy valley (1550 m), Saproon (1550 m) and Salogra (1440 m) in Solan district (Saikia et al. 2011; present study) . Uttarakhand: Dharkuri (2700 m), Rudraprayag district (Wroughton 1914 as Rh. rouxii) .</p><p>The peak frequency was recorded at 87 kHz both in Himachal Pradesh (present study) and in Uttarakhand (Chakravarty et al. 2020). In Himachal Pradesh, it can be told apart from Rh. affinis using acoustic characters (FmaxE 78 Khz) but in Uttarakhand their call frequencies overlap (Chakravarty et al. 2020).</p><p>Taxonomic note: Based on craniodental and molecular data, Thomas (2000) recognized the Himalayan form Rh. sinicus as a species different from peninsular Indian Rh. rouxii . Besides some differences in the wing measures and noseleaf structures, shorter palate length (1.9 mm in average) with the anterior border lying adjacent to the metacone of the first molar was cited as one of the distinctive characters of Rh. sinicus against Rh. rouxii (Thomas 2000) . We compared our Himachal specimens in the light of the above characters and observed that the palatal bridge was slightly longer (mean= 2.4 mm) with its anterior border extending beyond the metacone of the first molar. The upper canines of our specimens (albeit slightly worn out) were short, their height was at the level of the posterior premolar and did not seem to exceed the height of the second premolar considerably. Csorba et al. (2003) mentions this smaller upper canine as a distinguishing character of closely allied Rh. thomasi from Thailand. DNA sequences confirm the close phylogenetic relationships of the Indomalayan Rh. sinicus and Indochinese Rh. thomasi (Figs 3 and 5) but contradict that they are related to morphologically similar Rh. rouxii and the Peninsular Indian clade. Indeed, the latter two taxa are much more divergent (&gt;7%) and are phylogenetically unrelated, questioning the monophyly of the rouxii group defined by Csorba et al. (2003).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFFE2D34FF6DFF2EFC02F935	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFFE2D35FF6DF8FBFC84FC98.text	03BB87E9FFFE2D35FF6DF8FBFC84FC98.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Hipposideros armiger Hodgson 1835	<div><p>10. Hipposideros armiger Hodgson, 1835</p><p>(Great–Himalayan leaf–nosed bat)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 30.05.2017, Bank of river Narag, Devthal, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/399. Morphological description of specimens: The lone male from Himachal Pardesh had a dense dark brown dorsal pelage with lighter hair bases. The ventral fur was grey brown. The noseleaf had four supplementary leaflets, the fourth one minute. Behind the posterior part of the noseleaf and above the eyes, there were prominent fleshy protuberances with scattered vibrissae, a characteristic feature of the adult males of this species (Soisook 2019). There was a frontal depression with a tuft of dark hairs. The fifth metacarpal was about 6 percent shorter than the third and fourth which were subequal .</p><p>The bacula of our specimen was 1.73 mm in length. It had a bilobate base, a constricted shaft and the tip bifurcated to form two ventrally projecting processes.</p><p>DNA: The single COI sequences (705 bp) from the Himachal Pradesh (M 2201/V /M/ERS/ 399) was identical to a sequence of Hi. armiger from Uttarakhand (GB MN339181) and very similar (less than 2% divergence) to others from Indochina (e.g., from Vietnam, Francis et al. 2010), suggesting the existence of a single lineage throughout an extensive geographic area .</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Himachal Pradesh: Devthal (963 m), Mount Karol (2100 m) in Solan district (Saikia et al. 2011; present study). Uttarakhand: Bagheswar (950 m) in Bagheswar district (Wroughton 1914); Katarmal (1380 m) in Almora district (Bhat 1974); Mussoorie in Dehradun district (Jerdon 1874).</p><p>At Devthal, about 20 individuals of Hi. armiger were roosting along with a small number of Rh. affinis inside a small, abandoned mine. No sign of any breeding activity of the species was noted. In earlier studies in Himachal, this bat was recorded in the temple cave of Mount Karol sharing the roosting space with My. longipes (misidentified as My. mystacinus in Saikia et al. 2011) and Rh. affinis .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFFE2D35FF6DF8FBFC84FC98	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFFF2D3AFF6DFC27FBE4FE04.text	03BB87E9FFFF2D3AFF6DFC27FBE4FE04.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Barbastella darjelingensis (Hodgson 1855)	<div><p>11. Barbastella darjelingensis (Hodgson, 1855)</p><p>(Eastern Barbastelle)</p><p>New material: 3 F, 08.06.2019, forest near Narkanda, Himachal Pradesh ; 1 M, 08.04.2018, Khalla village, 1 M , 25.04.2019, Chopta village, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand ; released after measurements.</p><p>Morphological description of specimens: The forearm lengths of the animals were measured at 41.8–42.9 mm. The pelage was long and silky, dark brown dorso–ventrally with silvery tips, the overall appearance looked dark. The ears were large, hairy, and joined over the forehead. Tragus was longish, narrowed gradually with slightly roundish tip. Face and wing membranes were dark brownThe interfemoral membrane was naked. Feet were small and devoid of hairs.</p><p>DNA: The COI sequence (705 bp) and CYTB (1140 bp) from one Himachal Pradesh barbastelle (M2230 released) was identical to a sequence of Ba. darjelingensis from Uttarakhand (GB MN339178; COI). No other record from the GenBank or BOLD matched these sequences (&gt;6.3% K2P distance), stressing the distinctiveness of this taxon compared to other Asian species of this genus (Figs 4 and 6). Sequences considered by Kruskop et al. (2019) as Ba. cf. darjelingensis from Vietnam (ABBSI 270–11) or from Taiwan (GB LC456144) were the closest relative (at about 6% sequence divergence for both markers). Another COI sequence from Nepal (GB JF442795) and labelled as Ba. darjelingensis by the same authors was much more divergent from any other Barbastella haplotype (13–20% K2P divergence), including from Indian Ba. darjelingensis . As this sequence (available in BOLD) had low quality trace files and many unique mutations compared to other sequences, it might represent a pseudogene and is disregarded here.</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Kapkot (1140 m) in Almora district (Bhat 1974); Khalla village (1667 m) and Chopta (2800 m) in Chamoli district (present study) . Himachal Pradesh: Shimla (c. 2200 m), Narkanda (2700 m) in Shimla district (Blanford 1888–1891; Ghosh 2008; present study) .</p><p>Three adult females were caught in a flap trap early in the morning around a pond inside a temperate coniferous forest dominated by Cedrus deodara in Narkanda in early June. The lactating individuals indicated the presence of a maternity colony nearby and were released soon after being measured . One male animal was caught in mist net set across a pool of water in secondary oak forest near Khalla village and another female (non parous) was caught over a slow–flowing brook close to an open meadow in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand in April 2018 .</p><p>As is usual in Barbastella bats,we recorded two types of echolocation calls that are emitted orally and nasally(Seibert et al. 2015). The oral calls are soft and narrowband (bandwidth=17 kHz) with a peak frequency of 26 kHz. Nasal calls differ from oral calls in having a convex shape with a slightly higher bandwidth (24 kHz) and peak frequency (31 kHz).</p><p>Taxonomic note: According to the most recent review of the genus Barbastella conducted with an integrative approach (Kruskop et al. 2019) and the current genetic results (Figs 4 and 6), the Himalayan species Ba. darjelingensis (type locality West Bengal, India) is distinct from both the Central Asian Ba. caspica and the Indochinese Ba. cf. darjelingensis . The later taxon is of uncertain taxonomic affinity because morphologically it is undistinguishable from genuine darjelingensis, but genetically differs from other taxa (Kruskop et al. 2019). Previous accounts based on morphology (e.g., Bates &amp; Harrison 1997) used to classify all these Asian forms under Ba. leucomelas, which has now been shown to be endemic to the Sinai Peninsula (Benda &amp; Mlikovsky 2008).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFFF2D3AFF6DFC27FBE4FE04	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFF12D3EFF6DF8A7FEDAF914.text	03BB87E9FFF12D3EFF6DF8A7FEDAF914.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Eptesicus pachyomus (Tomes 1857)	<div><p>12. Eptesicus pachyomus (Tomes, 1857)</p><p>(Oriental Serotine)</p><p>New material: 1 F, 01.06.2017, Salogra, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/420 and 1 F , 01.06.2017, Salogra, Solan district, Himachal Pradesh, released; 1 F , 09.04.2018; 1 M 19.04.2019 &amp; 1 M 05.05.2021, Mandal, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, released .</p><p>Morphological description of specimen: Our specimens measured 50.6–51.2 mm in forearm length. The pelage on the dorsal side was light brown with a golden tinge and beige in the ventral side; individual hairs were darker on the roots. The muzzle and lower lips were flesh coloured and sparsely haired. The ears were broadly conical with a roundish tip and six distinct ridges on the inner sides. The tragus was short (7.1–7.2 mm) and blunt, slightly curved inward (Fig. 11B). The wing and interfemoral membrane were dark brown and without hairs. The thumb had a delicate curved claw.</p><p>The cranium was robust with greatest length in our Himachal specimen at 20.27 mm. The rostrum was broad (rostral width 7.5 mm), zygomatic arches were widely flared far exceeding the mastoid breadth. The sagittal crest was low, visible only from the parietal region and continued up to lambda. Palate was long and broad; its exterior margin lied at the level of posterior end of canine and the posterior margin spread well behind the 3 rd molar. The coronoid process of mandible was high and sharply descended to the condyle (Fig. 12). The dentition was robust, upper toothrow measured 7.36 mm. The first upper incisor was large with a visible secondary cusp, the second one was very small. There was a diastema between the second incisor and the canine. The canine was well developed and exceeds the length of first premolar.</p><p>DNA: We obtained COI and CYTB sequences of a specimen from Solan in Himachal Pradesh (M 2207/ V / M/ERS/420), which proved to be nearly identical (&lt;0.7% divergence) to homologous sequences from a specimen housed at the Field Museum (FMNH 140422) and captured in the Karakar Pass, Pakistan (GB OP157125 and OP137071, respectively). Other Asian lineages in the serotinus group assigned by Juste et al. (2013) to Ep. pachyomus, including those sampled in Laos (GB HM540269, EU786850), China (GB EU786841) or South Korea (GB HQ580342) and curiously one specimen from Uttarakhand (GB MN339179), formed a distinct clade of closely related lineages (i.e. within 2% sequence diveregence). This geographically widespread clade was, however, clearly distant genetically from the Himachal Pradesh and the Pakistani samples by 11–17% sequence divergence (Tables S2 and S 3). These two latter samples were collected and sequenced independently for two mitochondrial markers, and both concur in being very divergent from any other known Asian lineages of Eptesicus . Other large species of Eptesicus, including Ep. serotinus turcomanus were also all distinct. Hence, this stricking molecular divergence is certainly not due to a potential laboratory artifact (see e.g., Sangster &amp; Luksenburg 2020) but needs further scrutiny to be properly interpreted in terms of taxonomy.</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Mandal village (1630 m) in Chamoli district; Himachal Pradesh: Salogra (1440 m) in Solan district (Present study) .</p><p>Two females of this species were caught in mist nets set around an artificial pond at Salogra at an elevation of 1440 m asl during early June. The collection locality is a small hamlet with agriculture fields and Pinus roxburghii trees. There is a cave nearby which holds populations of Rh. sinicus, Rh. lepidus and My. longipes although no Eptesicus was located there. It was a hot summer evening and a number of individuals of apparently the same species were seen drinking water from the pond. Both caught animals were lactating females which suggest the presence of a maternity colony nearby. In Uttarakhand, specimens were also caught in mist nets set over small streams in Mandal village in April and early May. In Afghanistan, this bat was reported from elevation between 570–830 m and was known to roost in ruins and other synanthropic places (Benda &amp; Gaisler 2015).</p><p>Taxonomic note: The largest of all Eptesicus species in the Indian subcontinent, Ep. pachyomus was traditionally considered to be distributed in the Indian Himalaya from Jammu and Kashmir to northeastern India (as “ Ep. serotinus ” in Bates &amp; Harrison 1997). Based on analyses of morphology and both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA data, Juste et al. (2013) limited the distribution of Ep. serotinus to Europe and Central Asia whereas the Oriental representatives of the serotinus group were assigned to Ep. pachyomus, although they lacked any Indian or Himalayan samples in their molecular dataset. This new taxonomy was also supported by extensive morphological comparisons by Benda &amp; Gaisler (2015) who included the Afghani taxon pashtonus as a synonym of Ep. pachyomus . According to Khandal et al. (2022), no precise locality was associated to the type of pachyomus described by Tomes (1857) from India and type locality might be somewhere in the Himalayas rather than the arid plains of Rajasthan. The cranial measurements of our Himachal Pradesh specimen appear among the smaller values reported by Benda &amp; Gaisler (2015) for a series of specimens from Iran, Pakistan and Kashmir, but otherwise correspond morphologically to this taxon, including specimens from Afghanistan (op. cit.). Samples from further east and assigned to various other subspecies (i.e., andersoni, pallens or horikawai) are all larger bats. It is therefore puzzling to find a unique and basal mitochondrial lineage from Himachal Pradesh and northern Pakistan (genetically identical for both CYTB and COI genes) (Figs 4 and 6). This lineage was very divergent from all other Oriental samples, including from one released individual from Uttarakhand (Chakravarty et al. 2022). As no nuclear marker were tested from the Himachal Pradesh or Pakistani samples, it is unclear whether this divergent mitochondrial lineage represents an introgressed variant inherited from an unsampled species, as has been shown in some Eurasian Eptesicus (Juste et. al. 2013, Artyushin et al. 2009), or whether Ep. pachyomus represents a complex of several taxa in the Himalayas.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFF12D3EFF6DF8A7FEDAF914	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFF42D3FFF6DF953FE52FBD4.text	03BB87E9FFF42D3FFF6DF953FE52FBD4.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Hypsugo affinis (Dobson 1871)	<div><p>13. Hypsugo affinis (Dobson, 1871)</p><p>(Chocolate pipistrelle)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 19.04.2019, Mandal, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, V /M/ERS/638; 1 M , 05.05.2021, Mandal, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, released .</p><p>Morphological description of specimen: An adult male had a forearm of 37.9 mm. The pelage appeared uniform smoky black dorsally and smoky greyish brown ventrally (Fig. 11C). The head appeared flat; the lip fringes were hairy, ears were small, rhomboidal, and thick at the proximal part with a small tragus. The wings were essentially naked which join at the base of the digits. There were seven caudal vertebrae, the terminal one projecting out of the tail membrane. A prominent calcar lobe was present. Penis was pendulus and hairy on the distal part.</p><p>The skull had a broad and elongated rostrum and gradually rised to lambda in a straight line (Fig. 13A). There was a midline depression in the orbital region. The zygoma was thin with a distinct process in the jugal bones. The upper canine was only moderately exceeding the height of the last corresponding premolar (in contrast with the conspicuously long canines of Hy. dolichodon; see Fig. 3. in Görföl et al. 2018). The first upper premolar was small and intruded. Lower molars were myotodont. The baculum was small (2.5 mm), broad in the middle and slightly constricted at both ends (Fig. 14F). The distal end was slightly groved but without any expansion. This corresponds well to the depiction of the baculum of Hy. affinis in Hill &amp; Harrison (1987) and differs sharply from the baculum of Hy. dolichodon (Fig. 5 in Görföl et al. 2018).</p><p>DNA: no biological material was obtained from this species.</p><p>Distribution and ecological notes: At present, two localities in Western Himalayas are known: Uttarakhand: Kumaon division and Mandal (1500 m) in Chamoli district (Bates &amp; Harrison 1997; present study). Both individuals were caught over a stream at the edge of an oak forest near human habitation. Hy. affinis is known to be an upland species with all records being within 1250–2530 m (Görföl et al. 2018) and our present record also corroborates it. The echolocation call was recorded on release. We recorded narrowband (bandwidth=40.74 kHz) calls, ending at 25.89 kHz, and having a peak frequency of 30.51 kHz (Table 6).</p><p>Taxonomic note: Hypsugo affinis is reportedly distributed in southern and northern parts of South Asia (India, Nepal and Sri Lanka), southern China (Xizang, Yunnan, and Guangxi), and Southeast Asia (Myanmar and Cambodia) (Chheang et al. 2013; Srinivasulu &amp; Srinivasulu, 2019a). However, Görföl et al. (2018) showed that recent records of this species from lowland Myanmar (Bates et al. 2005) and Cambodia (Chheang et al. 2013) actually represent the recently described species Hy. dolichodon . The type specimen of Hy. affinis was collected from Bhamo (ca. 24°15’N; 97°14’E) in Kachin State of northern Myanmar at an elevation of 1363 m (Dobson 1871) and further records of the species all came from higher altitudes between 1250–2530 m (Görföl et al. 2018). However, the skull of the type specimen of Hy. affinis in ZSI, Kolkata is not traceable, so final taxonomic assignation to either species is still problematic (op. cit.).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFF42D3FFF6DF953FE52FBD4	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFF52D3CFF6DFB13FA13FB2C.text	03BB87E9FFF52D3CFF6DFB13FA13FB2C.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Hypsugo savii (Bonaparte 1837)	<div><p>14. Hypsugo savii (Bonaparte, 1837)</p><p>(Savi’s Pipistrelle)</p><p>New material: 1 F, 31.03.2018, Mandal village, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, V /M/ERS/633 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimen: The Uttarakhand specimen had a forearm of 37.7 mm. The pelage was light brown dorsally and creamy–white ventrally, with thick and silky fur. Dorsal hairs were unicoloured whereas ventral hairs had darker roots and whitish tips. The ears, muzzle, patagium and feet were dark, contrasting against its light pelage colouration (Fig. 11D). The wing and tail membranes were black and essentially naked on both sides. The shape of the ear was rather like a Pipistrellus but with a short and wide tragus. Wing membrane joined at the middle of the metatarsus. A small calcar lobe was present, and the tail tip projected out of the tail membrane by about 4 mm.</p><p>The skull and dentition were relatively robust. The rostrum was broad and with two frontal depressions and elevated to the braincase in almost a straight line (Fig. 13B). A weak sagittal crest was present. The palate was concave and very deep. The zygomatic arches were delicate. The upper incisors were bicuspid. Only one upper premolar was present which was equal to the canine in basal area and almost reaching the height of the canine. The coronoid process was situated much higher than the condylar process. Lower molars were myotodont. These morphological features and mensural data agree well with the Central Asian, sand–coloured subspecies Hy. s. caucasicus found in Afghanistan (Benda &amp; Geisler 2015) or Tajikistan (Benda et al. 2024).</p><p>DNA: COI sequence from an Uttarakhand specimen (V /M/ERS/633) proved to be very similar (within 1.8% sequence divergence) to Hy. savii ’s lineage D described recently by Gojznikar &amp; Mayer (2024) for Central Asia. This lineage D included sequences from southern Mongolia (GB OM370825 and MW367769) labelled as “ Hy. stubbei ” or “ Hy. alaschanicus ” (Fig. 4). These savii ’s lineage D sequences were more distant (&gt;7%) from various other lineages of Hy. savii from the Western Palearctic region (e.g., OQ 706648, see Gojznikar &amp; Mayer 2024) and even more so (&gt;9%) from sequences of true Hy. alaschanicus from Mongolia or China (GB OR 467319 or MF459671).</p><p>Distribution and ecological notes: Hy. savii is primarily a Palaearctic species with a supposed intrusion into northern India (Juste &amp; Paunović 2016). However, the records of this species from Pune in Maharashtra (Korad &amp; Yardi 2004) and from Ambala in Haryana (Neuhauser 1970) were regarded as misidentifications because Hy. savii is unlikely to be found in the hot plains (Benda &amp; Gaisler 2015). The report of a specimen from Gilgit in Pakistan administered Kashmir (Chakraborty 1983) which was collected and initially identified by J. Scully as Vesperugo borealis was also considered by John Hill as doubtful. It was therefore suggested that the Oriental limit of distribution of the species could be the Hindu Kush barring aside a single record from Kamu, Nuristan province in eastern Afghanistan (Benda &amp; Gaisler 2015). Our specimen from Mandal (1600 m) therefore represents the first authentic record of this species from the Western Himalayas and India as a whole, extending its distribution to the southeast by about 900 km.</p><p>The adult female was caught in a mist net set over a shallow, shaded stream along the edge of an oak forest. We recorded short frequency–modulated (FM) calls with a bandwidth of 53.14 kHz with an end frequency of 29.2 kHz. The peak frequency was recorded at 42.11 kHz (Table 6). The call frequencies were superficially similar to those recorded in European Hy. savii (Russo &amp; Jones 2002) . The echolocation calls were recorded inside a room so that the bat could be collected after recording. Therefore, the call may resemble the ones emitted in dense clutter. Natural search phase calls are likely to have distinct FM and QCF components, with lower bandwidth and longer duration. In the study area (Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary), its calls overlap with those of Mirostrellus joffrei (Chakravarty et al. 2020) .</p><p>Taxonomic note: Dobson (1871) described Pipistrellus austenianus from the Khasi Hills in north–eastern India, which has been regarded as a possible synonym of Hy. savii (e.g., Bates &amp; Harrison 1997). However, as no critical evaluation of the only known specimen from Cherrapunjee with other Hypsugo spp. has been made so far, this taxonomic assignement is best considered as doubtful. The high lineage diversity found in the mitochondrial DNA of Hy. savii (Fig. 4) further questions the taxonomic rank to be assigned to these divergent clades (Gojznikar &amp; Mayer 2024). We indeed concur that in the absence of nuclear genetic markers, it is currently impossible to decide whether each major clade represent distinct species or subspecies, or simply reflect the complex phylogeographic history of a single polytypic and widespread species (Benda &amp; Gaisler 2015). We can only support that the Uttarakhand specimen is part of Hy. savii ’s lineage D and has external morphology corresponding well to Hy. savii caucasicus .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFF52D3CFF6DFB13FA13FB2C	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFF62D3DFF6DFB51FB42FF59.text	03BB87E9FFF62D3DFF6DFB51FB42FF59.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Mirostrellus joffrei (Thomas 1915)	<div><p>15. Mirostrellus joffrei (Thomas, 1915)</p><p>(Joffre’s Pipistrelle)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 06.04.2021, Mandal village, Chamoli District, Uttarakhand, V /M/ERS/ 650 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimen: This was a small bat with a forearm length of about 38 mm. It had a glossy, dark brown dorsal pelage with a slight reddish tinge and the ventral fur was light golden brown with a sharp demarcation between these two colours. Dorsal hairs had darker roots and lighter tips while the ventral hairs were uniformly coloured throughout their length. Wings and patagium were dark brown and naked, except for the region closer to the body. The sides of the muzzle between nostrils and eyes were characteristically swollen with a few long vibrissae. The ears were broad and short with rounded tip and roughly matching a right triangle in lateral profile. The tragus was short and rounded, with a basal lobe, inner margin concave and the outer margin convex. The wing membrane attached to the mid metatarsus and a small unkeeled calcar lobe was present. The two terminal caudal vertebrae projected out of the membrane.</p><p>The skull was stout with a short rostrum and bulbous braincase, with traces of occipital and sagittal crest present. Supraorbital processes were large and directed sideways. The first incisor was bifid, the second was also bifid and reached about two third the length of the first. In frontal view, the canines were divergent. Lower molars were myotodont.</p><p>DNA: no biological material was obtained from this species.</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Mandal village (1500 m), Chamoli district (Chakravarty et al. 2020; present study). Individuals were caught flying over an open stream at the edge of an oak forest. The current specimen was collected at a shaded stream in the same spot described in Chakravarty et al. (2020). It has not been recorded from any other part of Western Himalayas, although not uncommon in Mandal area.</p><p>Taxonomic note: See Görföl et al. (2020) for the correct generic classification of Mi. joffrei, which used to be included within Pipistrellus (e.g., Bates &amp; Harrison 1990) or Hypsugo (e.g., Saikia et al. 2017).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFF62D3DFF6DFB51FB42FF59	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFC92D03FF6DFF2EFBD4FAF4.text	03BB87E9FFC92D03FF6DFF2EFBD4FAF4.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Myotis blythii (Tomes 1857)	<div><p>16. Myotis blythii (Tomes, 1857)</p><p>(Lesser Mouse–eared Bat)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 31.05.2017, Barog Tunnel, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/ 405 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimen: A single individual was captured from a crevice inside Barog tunnel. Largest amongst all Indian Myotis, this male had a weight of 16 g and forearm length of 58.4 mm. The wings were long and broad with a wingspan of 380 mm. The dorsal fur was grey–brown, and the venter was beige. Hairs were darker at the base with paler tips. Belly fur was shorter (c. 4 mm) than on the back (c. 6 mm) as also noted by Bates &amp; Harrison (1997). The muzzle was pointed, flesh coloured and covered with scattered hairs. Unlike in most European My. blythii, there was no apparent patch of white fur on the forehead between ears. Ears were elongated, light brown. The tragus was half the length of ear and narrowed down towards the tip (Fig. 15A). The wings attached to the outer metatarsal of each foot.</p><p>The cranium was robust with the greatest length of 21.2 mm in our specimen. The rostrum was short and broad; the braincase elevated gently above the rostrum. Distinct supraorbital ridges were present. Sagittal crest was not very prominent. Lambda formed the posterior extremity of the skull. The coronoid process of each mandible was tall and triangular. Compared to the skull size, dentition was weak. The upper incisors were bicuspidate, the second one slightly shorter than the first. Canine was relatively short, only slightly exceeding the level of third premolar. The first and second upper premolars were similar in surface area and the second one was slightly intruded. The first two lower incisors were tricuspidate while the third one had four cusps. Lower molars were myotodont.</p><p>The baculum of M. blythii is variable in shape although the overall structure matches to an arrowhead (Albayrak &amp; Asan 2001). The baculum length of our specimen was 1 mm and 0.6 mm wide at the base. In dorsal view, the broad shape corresponded to that of an isosceles triangle with a rounded tip and arched base. The baculum was curved upward in dorsal profile (Fig. 14H).</p><p>DNA: The COI (GB MW054901) and CYTB (GB MW054872) sequences from this Himachal Pradesh specimen were reported in a previous account (Ruedi et al. 2021). These sequences were very similar (&lt;2% sequence divergence) to specimens collected in Pakistan (GB MK799658) or in CentralAsia (e.g.,GB MT588108 orAF376840), but more divergent (about 6%) from other taxa such as My. b. oxygnathus from Europe (e.g., GB OQ885387) .</p><p>Taxonomic note: The taxon Myotis blythii was originally described by Tomes (1857) as Vespertilio blythii from an unprecise locality called Nassenabad; its exact geographic location is far from clear but logically should be considered as “Himalayas” (Topál 1971; Khandal et al. 2022). Another taxon, Vespertilio murinoides was subsequently described from Chamba area of Himachal Pradesh (Dobson 1873), but Thomas (1915) considered it as a synonym of My. blythii . Based on examination of the type series of Dobson (1873) in the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, Topál (1971) also confirmed the above view of synonymy and opined that the Western Himalayas is inhabited by a single form My. blythii . This nominate form My. b. blythii occurs south of the Himalayas from Nepal to Afghanistan (Benda &amp; Gaisler 2015) and parts of Central Asia (Benda et al. 2011).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFC92D03FF6DFF2EFBD4FAF4	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFCB2D08FF6DFDD9FAD8FE78.text	03BB87E9FFCB2D08FF6DFDD9FAD8FE78.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Myotis himalaicus Saikia & Chakravarty & Csorba & Laskar & Ruedi 2025	<div><p>Myotis himalaicus sp. nov. Ruedi, Chakravarty, Saikia &amp; Csorba</p><p>Himalayan long–tailed Myotis</p><p>ZooBank Life Science Identifier (LSID): urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub: 98354CF6-78A5-4CCD-84FE-E220B722DE9 Synonyms:</p><p>Myotis cf. frater (Chakravarty et al. 2020)</p><p>Holotype: adult male collected by R. Chakravarty on 2 nd of May 2021 in Ansuya, Chamoli District, Uttarakhand, India. It is deposited in the collection of the Zoological Survey of India at Shillong under accession number V /M/ERS/ 653. The specimen is conserved in alcohol with skull and baculum prepared separately. Part of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxydase subunit 1 gene (COI) was sequenced from tissue extracts taken on the holotype. This nucleotide sequence is deposited in the GenBank under accession number PQ776313.</p><p>Paratype: Adult female, collected by G. Csorba and L. Ronkay on 22 nd of July 1998 in Kaghan Valley (34°36'48" N, 73°27'0.97"8 E, 2300 m), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is deposited in the collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum under accession number HNHM – MAM 99.14.5. The specimen is conserved in alcohol with skull prepared separately .</p><p>Type locality: The holotype was caught in a mist net set above a water pond surrounded by dense evergreen forests, at Ansuya, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=79.29139&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=30.487638" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 79.29139/lat 30.487638)">Chamoli District</a>, Uttarakhand (30°29’15.5” N, 79°17’29” E), at an elevation of 2000 m above sea level .</p><p>Etymology: The epithet himalaicus refers to the current distribution of the species, which appears to be endemic to the southern slopes of the western part of the Himalayan mountains and extending to Hindu Kush Range in the west. Suggested vernacular name is Himalayan long–tailed Myotis .</p><p>Measurements of the holotype: Measurements are in mm and were taken on the prepared specimen. Head and body length, 43; tail length, 45.8; forearm length, 41.1; hind foot length (including claw), 8.2; Tibia length, 21.3; ear length, 13.5; tragus length, 6.1; greatest skull length, including incisors, 13.8; condyle–basal length, 13.3; greatest zygomatic breadth, 9.2; postorbital breadth, 4.1; mastoid breadth, 7.6; greatest braincase width, 7.1; skull height, 5.6; upper canine–molar toothrow, 3.4; width across upper canines, 4.1; width across 3rd upper molars, 6.0; mandible length, including incisive, 10.3; lower canine–molar toothrow, 5.9.</p><p>Diagnosis: Medium–sized (6.5 g body mass), dark brown Myotis; dorsal hair tips slightly more golden brown; ventral fur with dark bases of hairs and lighter tips. Colour of face flesh coloured; other bare parts darker brown. Ears relatively short, brown and naked; anterior margin initially straight, then convex leading to a rounded tip; posterior margin deeply notched at mid–height. Tragus brown, straight, and reaching beyond posterior ear notch. Thumb and claw robust. Wing membranes attached close to base of outer toe, on the distal part of the metatarsus. Feet smaller than or equal half tibia length. Tail longer than head and body length combined. Calcar straight, with a very narrow, elongated lobe. Skull globose, with short rostrum and abruptly raised frontal part of braincase, very weak sagittal and moderate lambdoid crests. Dentition relatively weak with second upper premolars small and partly or fully intruded from toothrow. Height of upper and lower canines exceed that of the corresponding third premolars. Lower molars myotodont.</p><p>Description: Pelage dense, soft and relatively long at 8 mm on the dorsum; dorsal hairs dark brown, becoming progressively lighter towards the tips. Ventral parts clearly paler, with hairs brown along their proximal middle, becoming lighter, yellowish or creamy towards the tip (Fig. 16A). Bare parts, including ears and patagium, dark brown. Face lighter, flesh–coloured and bare around the eyes; muzzle hairier and long whiskers present around the lip fringes. Ears mostly naked except for a few scattered hairs on the inner side, medium–sized and broad, not reaching the nose tip when laid forward, with a conspicuous notch at half height along posterior margin. Tragus straight, with near parallel edges, but anterior margin slightly concave, reaching few millimetres beyond ear notch on the posterior margin (Fig. 16B). Wing membranes naked (except the underparts, close to the body), and attached to the distal parts of the metacarpus, near the bases of the outer toe. Feet delicate, approximately half the size of tibia length and covered with sparse hairs along the toes. Uropatagium broad, naked; tail almost fully included in the membrane. Calcar long and straight, extending halfway to the free edge of uropatagium, with a very narrow, elongated, indistinct keel. Tail long slightly longer than the size of head and body length combined.Thumbs relatively long (about 6 mm including claw), about same diameter throughout and terminating with a strong but short claw.</p><p>When viewed in profile, the skull has a relatively short rostrum, and an abruptly raising frontal part of braincase (Figs 17 and 18A). Braincase globose, with very weak sagittal and moderately developed lambdoid crests. Like in most species of Myotis, dental formula is I 2/3 C 1/1 PM 3/3 M 3/3 = 38 teeth. Teeth rather delicate, upper and lower canines exceed third premolars in height. Upper incisors of comparable height and crown area; both bicuspidate. Short diastema present between incisors and upper canine. Upper canine gracile and angular in section, with distinct medio–labial and antero–lingual groove and wide posterior emargination on the lingual side, a situation akin to My. f. kaguyae (see Fig. 3. of Tsytsulina &amp; Strelkov 2001).</p><p>First upper premolar small, similar in height to incisors, and aligned in toothrow; second premolar minute and fully (Pakistani specimen) or partly displaced inwards and still visible in lateral view (Uttarakhand specimen) (Fig. 17). Third premolar and molars more robust, but low. Lower incisors of similar height; the first and second tricuspidate, the third with four cusps. The three lower premolars are in a row, not particularly crowded, the second being shorter than first. Three lower molars robust, taller than upper ones and all myotodont; entoconid much higher than hypoconoid. Mandible robust; angular process short and nearly as long as high; coronoid process low, linked to condyloid process by an almost horizontal ridge.</p><p>The baculum is minute, about 0.5 x 0.7 mm. It is shovel shaped and highly convex on the dorsal surface where a well defined and wide medial dorsal ridge is present. The tip tapers abruptly and ends flat; base with a wide, deep, and rounded emargination (Figs 14D and 19A).</p><p>Comparisons: The long tibia and tail, short and broad ears and a skull with short rostrum, raised frontal parts of braincase and inward displaced second upper premolars of My. himalaicus sp. nov., are typical morphological characters defining taxa in the My. frater species complex (Tsytsulina &amp; Strelkov 2001). We therefore restrict our comparisons within this group of Myotis species.</p><p>Externally, My. himalaicus sp. nov. is easily distinguished from the arid form My. bucharensis by its much darker pelage, both above and below (see e.g., Kazakov et al. 2020) and by its darker bare parts of skin. My. bucharensis also differs by the distinct fronto–labial groove in the upper canine and relatively long rostrum (e.g., CCL&gt; 13 mm; Tsytsulina &amp; Strelkov 2001) vs. without such groove, and shorter rostrum in My. himalaicus sp. nov. (e.g., CCL&lt;12.8 mm; Table 4).</p><p>The Taiwan endemic My. soror is distinctive by having a rich cinnamon and grizzled fur, a tragus that does not reach the posterior notch of ear, and shorter (&lt;20 mm) tibia (Ruedi et al. 2015).</p><p>The thick and dark brown fur of My. himalaicus sp. nov. is, however, similar to the more temperate–distributed taxa My. frater and My. longicaudatus (Kazakov et al. 2025) . Nevertheless, based on field measurement reported in Chakravarty et al. (2020), overall size of My. himalaicus sp. nov. (e.g., FA 39.5–43 mm, tibia 20.1–21.6 mm) is larger than that of My. longicaudatus (FA typically &lt;40 mm, tibia &lt;20.5 mm; Tsytsulina &amp; Strelkov 2001). My. frater also has a shorter forearm length (FA &lt;40 mm) as compared with My. himalaicus sp. nov.</p><p>The distal part of the baculum of My. himalaicus sp. nov. (Fig. 19A) is unique for the species–group having a deep and wide emargination (versus much more reduced posterior emargination in the other species; see Fig. 5 in Tsytsulina &amp; Strelkov 2001; Figs 19 B-F).</p><p>The short sequence of the COI mitochondrial gene obtained from the holotype is almost identical (one single transition mutation) to longer sequences reported previously for My. himalaicus sp. nov. (GB MN339184 and MN714904, labelled as My. cf. frater, Chakravarty et al. 2020) and divergent from any other homologous sequences in the frater group (and of any Myotis), except bucharensis, which has not been investigated for this gene.According to another mitochondrial locus (CYTB), My. bucharensis is phylogenetically sister to My. longicaudatus (Kazakov et al. 2020), whereas according to the COI marker, My. himalaicus sp. nov. appears sister to My. soror (Chakravarty et al. 2020) or more basal to the whole group (Fig. 4). The resolution of current molecular reconstructions is, however, still insufficient to place this new species in a definitive phylogenetic position within the frater species complex.</p><p>Distribution and ecology: My. himalaicus sp. nov. is the only species of the frater complex known so far to inhabit the Indian subcontinent.Apparently, it is endemic to the southern slopes of the Western Himalayas and Hindu Kush mountains and recorded so far only in Uttarakhand, India and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. According to Chakravarty et al. (2020) My. himalaicus sp. nov. was caught in primary oak and oak forest edge in Mandal, whereas in Devalsari, a female was caught at the intersection of scrub–covered hills and cedar forest. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa record came from an old–grown pine forest. Going by these records, it occurs in a variety of forested habitats at elevations between 1500–2300 m but appears uncommon. Other species of bats caught in the same area on the nights when the holotype of My. himalaicus sp. nov. was caught include My. muricola, Mu. cyclotis, Ep. pachyomus and Pi. babu . The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa specimen was mist–netted together with Mu. tubinaris . Nothing is known about its natural history besides that none of the individuals caught during July in Pakistan and May in Uttarakhand were in breeding condition. The echolocation calls recorded from four released individuals in Mandal emitted frequency modulated calls starting at 96.8 ± 3.15 kHz and ending at 47.9 ± 3.13 kHz, with maximum energy at 68.0 ± 3.86 kHz (Chakravarty et al. 2020). Its calls are hard to distinguish from the syntopic My. muricola .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFCB2D08FF6DFDD9FAD8FE78	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFC22D08FF6DFDFFFD7EF9F8.text	03BB87E9FFC22D08FF6DFDFFFD7EF9F8.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Myotis sicarius Thomas 1915	<div><p>18. Myotis sicarius Thomas, 1915</p><p>(Mandelli’s Mouse–eared Bat)</p><p>New material: A released male caught at Mandal, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand in mid– April 2019 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimen: An adult male was caught in a mist net set over a shallow, shaded stream along the edge of an oak forest. This relatively large Myotis had a forearm of 50.9 mm and 10 g body weight. The specimen was identified in the field by its size, the ratio of the lengths of hindfoot to tibia and relatively large ears (but not as large as in My. altarium). The pelage consisted of short hairs that were dark brown to black above and smokey greyish black below (Fig. 15E), with a conspicuous yellowish patch surrounding the belly. These fur characteristics also differentiate it from the similar-sized My. altarium . The naked portion of the muzzle was flesh coloured while ears and wing membranes were dark brown. The wings were attached to the base of the toe which were covered with a few scattered hairs.</p><p>DNA: No biological material was obtained for this released specimen. However, Chakravarty et al. (2020) reported a COI sequence (GB MN339187) of another individual caught in the same place and provisionally identified as “ M. cf. annectans ”. This sequence was almost identical (a single mutation) to one My. sicarius from Nepal (GB OR413180) deposited recently by Győrössy et al. (2024), which confirmed their taxonomic identity as sicarius . Reference sequences from Indochinese My. annectans were genetically very distinct from M. sicarius (e.g., HM541011; Francis et al. 2010; Győrössy et al. 2024; Fig. 4).</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: The present datum constitutes the first record of this species from the Western Himalayas, which is a significant geographic extension of this rare and vulnerable (Srinivasulu &amp; Srinivasulu 2019b), so far localised species known from the Central and Eastern Himalaya (Bates &amp; Harrison 1997) and (with a single record) from North Vietnam (Győrössy et al. 2024).</p><p>The call structure of the released specimen was narrowband (38.81 kHz bandwidth) with prominent FM and QCF components, resembling those of Pipistrellus sp. The release call had duration of 5.12 ms, an ending frequency of 33.14 kHz and peak frequency of 37.41 kHz (Table 13). In the study area its calls overlapped with those of Pi. babu (Chakravarty et al. 2020; see below).</p><p>Taxonomic notes: We correct here a previous preliminary identification of a bat reported as “ My. cf. annectans ” in Chakravarty et al. (2020) to My. sicarius in the light of the new specimen analyzed morphologically here, and to the COI sequence of a previous individual from Mandal which is nearly identical compared to a sequence from Nepal (i.e., close to the type locality in Sikkim, India) .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFC22D08FF6DFDFFFD7EF9F8	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFC22D09FF6DF97FFE99FC98.text	03BB87E9FFC22D09FF6DF97FFE99FC98.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Myotis muricola (Gray 1864)	<div><p>19. Myotis muricola (Gray, 1864)</p><p>(Nepalese Whiskered Bat)</p><p>New material: Two released males caught at Chopta, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, April 2018 and April 2019 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimens: Two adult males were caught over a brook at the edge of a meadow in Chopta (2800 m). They were provisionally identified by their small size (FA = 36.3–37.7 mm), sooty black dorsal pelage and dark ventral pelage with silvery tips. The ears were slightly elongated with a rounded tip but without a prominent notch on the posterior margin and also lacking the projected arched lobe near the base of the ear that are characteristics of Su. caliginosus with which the species was often mistaken (Ruedi et al. 2021). Tragus was straight, slightly bent forward, but not spatulated as in Su. caliginosus (compare Figs 15D and 15F). Hind feet were small (in comparison to tibia) and the wing attached to the base of the toe.</p><p>DNA: no biological material was obtained from this species.</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Ansuya (2000 m), Chopta (2800 m) and Mandal (1600 m) in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand (Chakravarty et al. 2020; present study). The record from Chirot (Thirot) in Lahaul &amp; Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh (Lindsay 1927) and included as “ My. mystacinus ” in Bates &amp; Harrison (1997) might either represent this species or other taxa (see below).</p><p>We recorded broadband (bandwidth= 66.37 kHz), short–duration (3 ms) echolocation calls with end frequency of 43.37 kHz. Passive recordings of free–flying bats in the site of capture show similar call characteristics but with longer duration and prominent QCF components (R. Chakravarty unpublished data).</p><p>Taxonomic notes: A constituent species of the My. mystacinus morphogroup, the taxonomic status of My. muricola in the Western Himalayas was obscure till recently. The species was believed to be widely distributed in the Oriental Region with a large number of taxa included in its synonymy (Bates &amp; Harrison 1997; Srinivasulu &amp; Srinivasulu 2019c). However, more recently it has been shown that at least in the Western Himalaya, My. muricola was confused with other similar looking but distinct species, My. nipalensis and Su. caliginosus (Ruedi et al. 2021) . All three species were found to occur in sympatry, but the latter one appeared to be more common and widespread.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFC22D09FF6DF97FFE99FC98	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFC32D09FF6DFCDFFD1FF818.text	03BB87E9FFC32D09FF6DFCDFFD1FF818.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Myotis nipalensis (Dobson 1871)	<div><p>20. Myotis nipalensis (Dobson, 1871)</p><p>(Nepal Myotis)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 30.05.2017, over river Narag, Devthal, Solan district, Himachal Pradesh V /M/ERS/445 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimen: An adult male was caught with a flap–net. This specimen had a walnut brown dorsum, and the ventral fur was grayish white (Fig. 15C). Dorsal hairs had a dark base and slightly lighter tip while the ventral hairs had light brown roots and whitish tips. The ears and patagium were dark brown. The ears were relatively long and with a broadly rounded tip, but devoid of notch at the rear edge. The tragus was slightly less than half the length of ear, almost straight on the inner side and convex on the outer margin. The thumb was long and slender with sharp claws. No visible calcar lobe was present, and the wing attached to the base of the toes.</p><p>Condylocanine length of our specimen measured 11.98 mm; the skull had a bulbous braincase with elevated rostrum compared to more flattened skull profile in My. muricola (Ruedi et al. 2021) . The incisors were bicuspidate. The canine exceeded the height of the third upper premolar although not greatly. The anterior upper premolars lie within the toothrow contrary to the intruded second upper premolar in My. muricola (examined specimens from northeastern India).</p><p>DNA: The COI (GB MW054918) and CYTB (GB MW054881) sequences of this specimen were already reported in Ruedi et al. (2021) and showed closest genetic similarities with My. annatessae from Southeast Asia (Figs 4 and 6), but not with My. muricola or My. mystacinus with which My. nipalensis had often been confused (e.g. Kruskop et al. 2012).</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Pawalgarh (495 m) in Nainital district (Chakravarty et al. 2020). Himachal Pradesh: Devthal (963 m) in Solan district (present study). Because of the confusing taxonomic situation of My. nipalensis in classical accounts (e.g., Ellerman &amp; Morrison–Scott 1966; Corbet &amp; Hill 1992; Bates &amp; Harrison 1997), the exact distribution of this Himalayan species is not precisely known (Ruedi et al. 2021). The adult male was caught with a flap–net while foraging over the river Narang in the early evening.</p><p>Taxonomic notes: The taxonomy of My. nipalensis has been much discussed since its description from Nepal by Dobson in 1871. It was variously included in the synonymy of My. mystacinus, My. muricola or more recently within My. siligorensis or My. davidii (see review in Ruedi et al. 2021). However, obvious external (e.g., strongly contrasting whitish ventral fur; unnotched ears), cranial (e.g., globose braincase) and genetic differences support species status for this distinctive bat (op. cit.).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFC32D09FF6DFCDFFD1FF818	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFC42D0FFF6DFF2EFD42F9A0.text	03BB87E9FFC42D0FFF6DFF2EFD42F9A0.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Myotis longipes Dobson 1873	<div><p>21. Myotis longipes Dobson, 1873</p><p>(Kashmir Cave Myotis)</p><p>New material: 2 M, 01.06.2017, Salogra cave, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/ 438, 439; 1 M, 1 F , 01.06.2017, Saproon cave, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/ 440, 441; 1 M , 03.06.2017, Temple cave Karol, Solan district, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/ 442 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimens: A number of individuals of this small Myotis (FA 36.6–37.2 mm) were caught in three different caves of Solan district. The overall pelage appeared brownish dorsally and buff coloured verntrally (Fig. 15B). Dorsal hair basis were darker brown while the tips were light brown. Muzzle, ears, and wing membranes were dark brown. Ears were tall, narrow and pointed with a straight and pointed tragus, little less than half of pinna length. Feet were comparatively large at 8.5 mm and covered with scattered hairs. The wings joined to the base of metatarsus, not to the base of toes as in other small Myotinae from the area. The skull had a maximum length of 14 mm, and the bulbous braincase was distinctly elevated from the flat rostrum. Teeth were weak, especially canines which barely exceeded the height of third premolars (Fig. 20A).</p><p>The baculum was minute with a length of 0.32 mm and width of 0.12 mm at the base. It had a pointed tip which gradually widened proximally for about 0.15 mm and then markedly so for the rest of its length to form a triangular shape. The base was arched (Fig. 14G).</p><p>DNA: The COI (GB MW054907 and MW054908) and CYTB (GB MW054878 and MW054879) sequences of two specimens from Himachal Pradesh (M 2210/ V /M/ERS/440 and M 2219/ V /M/ERS/442) were already reported in Ruedi et al. (2021). Genetic comparisons showed that they were nearly identical to topotypic material of My. longipes from Kashmir or to the paratypes of My. csorbai from Nepal, indicating that all these sequences represent a well supported clade of a single species. They were, however, distinct from My. laniger .</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Benog WLS (1755 m) and Woodstock School (1787 m), Dehradun district and Mandal (1530 m), Chamoli district. Himachal Pradesh:Cave at Mount Karol (1980 m); Saproon (1550 m) and Salogra (1440 m), Solan district (present study). Saikia et al. (2011) reported “ My. mystacinus ” from these localities in Himachal Pradesh, but the referred specimens were re–identified as My. longipes (Ruedi et al. 2021) . All Himachal Pradesh specimens were collected from day roosts inside caves which were also being shared with other species. In two of these caves, the colony size was estimated to exceed over 500 individuals whereas in Karol temple cave, there were smaller numbers intermixed with Rh. sinicus and Rh. lepidus . Some of the females were carrying pups. In Uttarakhand, this bat was caught in mist nets while trawling over stream or brooks in oak forest (Chakravarty et al. 2020).</p><p>Taxonomic notes: Morphologically, My. longipes and My. laniger are very similar large–footed bats and were often associated to other trawling Myotis such as the European My. capaccinii or My. daubentonii in early accounts (Ellerman &amp; Morrison–Scott 1966; Corbet &amp; Hill 1990). Topál (1997) clarified the situation based on careful comparisons with topotypical material of all these species and showed that all were externally similar but cranially distinct. This morphological resemblance, however, resulted in erroneous reporting of My. longipes in northeastern India (Bates &amp; Harrison 1997; Sinha 1994; Ruedi et al. 2012; Saikia et al. 2018) or further east throughout China (Liu et al. 2023). To clarify this issue further, we critically examined the recent specimens of “ My. longipes ” ( =laniger) from Meghalaya in the collection of V /M/ERS/ (which formed the basis for records in northeastern India) and compared them with series of true My. longipes from the Western Himalayas. We noted that the dorsal coat colour of longipes was little lighter than laniger with the latter having a dark glossy sheen. The ventral fur of My. longipes looked beige compared to the greyish ventrum of My. laniger . For both species, wings joined at the base of the metatarsus. However, while the feet of My. longipes were covered with a few scattered hairs, they were much hairier in My. laniger . External dimension of My. longipes were very similar to My. laniger except for larger ears in My. longipes (average 15.5 mm against 12.8 mm in My. laniger). Compared with My. laniger, the cranial dimensions of My. longipes were slightly smaller (Table S4). The braincase in both species were bulbous but more so in My. laniger (Fig. 20B) with wider post–orbital constriction (3.5–3.9 mm against 3.3 mm in My. longipes). My. longipes also had a wider lachrymal bridge (1.06 mm) than My. laniger (0.93 mm) as noted by Topál (1997). The anterior dentition was weak in both species with a small canine which was almost at the level of third premolar’s height (Fig. 20). However, the molars in My. longipes appeared wider and stronger than in My. laniger . Lower molars were myotodont in both species.</p><p>The baculum structure of the two species differed significantly. In My. longipes, the baculum was minute and resembled to an arrowhead with a slightly roundish tip. There was a roundish indentation at the base, which was more pronounced dorsally. The length of baculum varied from 0.32–0.36 mm and 0.17–0.20 mm in breadth. This conforms well to the bacular description of specimens from the type locality (Bumzov cave, Kashmir) in Srinivasulu et al. (2020). In contrast, the baculum of My. laniger was shovel shaped and dorsally convex and measured 0.75 mm in length (V /M/ERS/371).</p><p>These comparisons confirmed earlier claims of Topál (1997) that My. longipes in the Western Himalayas and My. laniger in Eastern Himalaya (and further east to China) are morphologically distinct. This conclusion was also strongly supported by molecular analyses (Ruedi et al. 2021). As far as we know, My. longipes is distributed in the western Himalayan states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the easternmost recorded locality being Ansuya Devi in Kedarnath WLS (Chakravarty et al. 2020). However, according to the above– mentioned genetic results, records of My. csorbai from Nepal (Topál 1997; Dahal et al. 2024) might also represent My. longipes (as a distinct subspecies) and would be its most oriental occurence. The exact geographic boundary between My. longipes and the similar looking My. laniger in the Himalaya clearly needs further investigations based on vouchered or genetically identified specimens.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFC42D0FFF6DFF2EFD42F9A0	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFC52D0CFF6DF9C7FE0CFD25.text	03BB87E9FFC52D0CFF6DF9C7FE0CFD25.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Murina aurata Milne - Edwards 1872	<div><p>22. Murina cf. aurata Milne–Edwards, 1872</p><p>(Little Tube–nosed Bat)</p><p>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 .</p><p>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.</p><p>DNA: no biological material was obtained from this species.</p><p>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 &amp; 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).</p><p>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.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFC52D0CFF6DF9C7FE0CFD25	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFC62D0CFF6DFD56FF67F87B.text	03BB87E9FFC62D0CFF6DFD56FF67F87B.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Murina cyclotis Dobson 1872	<div><p>23. Murina cyclotis Dobson, 1872</p><p>(Round–eared tube–nosed bat)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 10.06.2017, Kandaghat, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/425 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimen: Our specimen had a forearm length of 31.7 mm. The pelage was long and woolly, the dorsal colouration was bright orange, and the ventral fur was beige–white with slightly darker roots (Fig. 11F). The ears were light brown, the anterior border was concave and the posterior one slightly convex without emergination. Ears had broadly rounded tip. The outwardly protruding nostrils were very prominent. The muzzle was flesh coloured with a few whiskers on both lips. The dorsal side of the interfemoral membrane was densely covered with hairs. The feet were also covered with long orange hairs.</p><p>DNA: The COI sequence of this specimen (M 2260 /V /M/ERS/425) was very distinct from any Murina sequence available in the GenBank, the closest match being a series of Mu. guilleni haplotypes from Peninsular Thailand (e.g., GB KY034137) at over 10% sequence divergence (Table S2). All other Mu. cylotis s.l. were separated by over 13% K2P distance from the Himachal Pradesh individual. The same pattern was observed with a CYTB sequence of this Himachal Pradesh individual, which was closest to one sequence of Mu. cyclotis from Cambodia (GB GQ168916) at 13.2% K2P (Table S3).</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Chakravarty et al. (2020) recorded this bat from Devalsari (1698 m) in Uttarakhand which was the first report of this species from Western Himalayas. The present new specimen is the first record from Himachal Pradesh (at Kandaghat, 1560 m) extending the distribution of Mu. cyclotis westwards in the Western Himalayas. This individual was caught in a harp trap which was set in an opening of mixed pine forest ( Pinus roxburghii and Quercus spp) along a railway track where Mu. huttonii was also caught in the same night. In Uttarakhand, this species was caught in a mist net in the intersection of Cedrus deodara dominated forest and scrub–covered hills (Chakravarty et al. 2020).</p><p>Taxonomic notes: Mu. cyclotis belongs to a clade consisting of several mitochondrial lineages but showing surprisingly uniform morphology including external and craniodental features. New taxa recently described from the Indomalayan Region and the Nicobar Islands (e.g., Francis &amp; Eger 2012; Soisook et al. 2013) are no exceptions. The craniodentally similar Mu. pluvialis from Meghalaya can be easily distinguished by its very dark bases in dorsal and ventral hairs (Ruedi et al. 2012) and is also very distinct genetically (&gt;20% K2P, e.g., from specimen M 2052/V /M/ERS/353). Eastern India (Darjeeling) being the type locality for Mu. cyclotis, the available records from Meghalaya could best represent the nominal species, but the CYTB sequence of one of these specimens (GB JQ044691) differed by 15.1% K2P from the Himachal Pradesh haplotype (Table S2). Other sequences available and labelled as “ cyclotis ” in the GenBank and sampled further east were also quite divergent (&gt;13% K2P). Compared to mammalian standards (Bradley &amp; Baker 2001) these divergence values are considerable and suggest additional taxonomic diversity. Other workers also found high genetic diversity of Mu. cyclotis within Southeast Asia and opined that the form found in Indochina is not the same as that from the type locality in India (Francis &amp; Eger 2012).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFC62D0CFF6DFD56FF67F87B	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFC72D13FF6DFF2EFE6AFECD.text	03BB87E9FFC72D13FF6DFF2EFE6AFECD.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Murina huttonii (Peters 1872)	<div><p>23. Murina huttonii (Peters, 1872)</p><p>(Hutton’s tube–nosed Bat)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 10.06.2017, Kandaghat, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/424; 1 M , 2.06.2017, Mount Karol, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh V /M/ERS/443; one released male, Ansuya (KWLS), Uttarakhand , 01.05.2019.</p><p>Morphological description of specimens: The pelage of the two examined Himachal Pradesh specimens was thick and soft. The Kandaghat specimen had a light brown dorsal fur with lighter tips while the ventral fur was grayish white with faint brown roots (Fig. 11G). The ears and muzzle were light brown. The specimen from Mount Karol was also similar in appearance except for the muzzle which was little darker with dark brown hairs and the ventral hairs had brownish roots. The pelage of one released animal from Uttarakhand was darker dorsally and had fawn coloured venter (Fig. 11H). Such colour variation among individuals of this species was noted earlier and calls for further studies for possible cryptic diversity (Son et al. 2015). The anterior border of the ears was slightly concave while the posterior border was little concave in both morphotypes. The interfemoral membranes were naked below but the feet were hairy.</p><p>The cranium was comparatively large with an average GTLi of 18.3 mm and dentition was robust. The mandibles were strong with a highly elevated coronoid process (Fig. 21A).</p><p>The baculum was almost rectangular with slightly narrower distal end which was broadly rounded off (Fig. 14I). There were concavities at both the ends but the one at the base was more acute. In dorsal profile, it was convex while the ventral surface was concave, partly damaged in our specimen). The baculum of specimen V /M/ERS/443 was 1.11 mm long and 0.61 mm wide at the base.</p><p>DNA: The COI sequences from the two Himachal Pradesh individuals (M 2261/ V /M/ERS/424 and M 2218/ V /M/ERS/443) were identical to each other and were also identical or very similar to two sequences from near the type locality in Uttarakhand (GB MN339182 and MN339183; Chakravarty et al. 2020). These genuine Mu. huttonii haplotypes diverged more extensively (&gt; 6.8%; Table S2) from sequences of bats assigned to M. huttonii from China (e.g. GB KU521385 or MN549054) or Indochina (e.g., GB KF772784; Fig. 4). The CYTB of the same two individuals from Himachal Pradesh likely diverged considerably from other sequences, the closest match being haplotypes of Mu. puta from Taiwan (e.g., GB GQ168901) at 8% sequence divergence (Table S3 and Fig. 6).</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Ansuya (2000 m) in Chamoli district; Dhanaulti (2114 m) in Tehri–Garhwal district; Lansdowne (1615 m) in Pauri–Garhwal district; Khati (2320 m) in Bagheswar district (Wroughton 1914; Chakravarty et al. 2020). The earlier records of Mu. leucogaster from Devalsari (1698 m) in Tehri–Garhwal district (Chakravarty et al. 2020) also possibly belongs to this species. Himachal Pradesh: Kandaghat (1560 m) and Mount Karol (1850 m) in Solan district (present study); unspecified locality in Chamba district (photographic evidence). We caught one specimen in a harp–trap set in a gully amongst pine forests while another was caught in harp trap set in a pine forest opening. Tube–nosed bats are known to be forest dwellers and our catches in Solan also point to this habitat preference. Interestingly, the Chamba animal was caught while entering a village house surrounded by farmlands and some tree strands. Few bats have reportedly been living in the space between stone slates and wooden roof of the house for a couple of years and returned to the same place even after evicted once by the owner (R. Kapoor, pers. comm.). In Uttarakhand also, these bats were mist netted in pine or oak forests (Chakravarty et al. 2020).</p><p>Taxonomic notes: The relatively large genetic distance (&gt;6.8% K2P) measured between the topotypic material from Western Himalayas and numerous specimens sequenced from China and Indochina certainly underscores further taxonomic diversity in this Oriental Region (Chakravorty et al. 2020). Interestingly, the Taiwanese endemic Mu. puta is genetically the least divergent (about 8% K2P) from Indian samples of Mu. huttonii for both COI and CYTB markers (Figs 4 and 6).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFC72D13FF6DFF2EFE6AFECD	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFD92D13FF6DFE2BFE83F96D.text	03BB87E9FFD92D13FF6DFE2BFE83F96D.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Nyctalus leisleri (Kuhl 1817)	<div><p>24. Nyctalus leisleri (Kuhl, 1817)</p><p>(Lesser Noctule)</p><p>New material: 2 M, 07.06.2017, Narkanda, Shimla District, Himachal Pradesh , V /M/ERS/413, 414; two released individuals from Narkanda, nine released individuals from Ansuya, and one released individual from Kanchula, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand .</p><p>Morphological description of specimens: A medium sized species with an average forearm length of 44.7 mm in the measured Himachal specimens. The dorsal pelage was rufous brown with dark hair roots while the ventrum was distinctly lighter brown but also with darker roots. The ears were triangular in profile with a short, curved tragus and dark brown in colour (Fig. 15G). The space between ears and eyes were sparsely haired. The interfemoral membrane was also dark brown and hairless. It joined the feet at the base of the digits. There was a prominent calcar lobe. The fifth metacarpal was distinctly shorter than the third and fourth.</p><p>In the upper jaw, the first upper premolar was small and slightly intruded so that the canine and the second premolar were almost in contact, a character that is more akin to Ny. montanus than to leisleri (Bates &amp; Harrison 1997) . However, the first premolar of the lower mandible is similar in size to the second, which is typical of leisleri, not of montanus (op. cit.).</p><p>The baculum was thin and long (6.8 mm). The shaft was straight with a slightly enlarged roundish tip while the proximal end enlarged and bifurcated by a deep emergination into two halves. The width at the base was 0.91 mm. In lateral view, the distal and proximal ends were bent to produce a curved appearance (Fig. 14E).</p><p>DNA: The COI sequence of one specimen from Himachal Pradesh (M 2226 / V /M/ERS/413) was not only very similar (about 1% K2P) to haplotypes from Uttarakhand (GB MN339189 and MN714905) or Pakistan (GB MK091913), but also to Ny.leisleri sampled in the Western Palaearctic region (e.g., from Switzerland GB OQ706660; Table S2; Fig. 4). The same pattern of low genetic divergence was obtained with a sequence of the CYTB from this Himachal individual (Fig. 6), which proved to be very similar (1.3% K2P) to European samples as well (e.g., GB OQ885404; Table S3). Unfortunately, there are no sequences of Ny. montanus available in public repositories, so its genetic distinctness from Ny. leisleri cannot be evaluated.</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Bajawala (638 m) in Dehradun district; Devalsari (1698 m), Dhanaulti (2114 m) and Maldevta (846 m) in Tehri–Garhwal district; Dogalbita (2370 m) in Rudraprayag district; Mandal (1600–1800 m), Ansuya (2000–2200 m), and Kanchula (2500 m) in Chamoli district; Katarmal (1380 m) in Almora district; Pangot in Nainital district (Bhat1974; Chakravarty et al. 2020; present study). Himachal Pradesh: Kothi, Kullu district and Narkanda (ca. 2700 m), Shimla district (present study; Bhat et al. 1983; Saikia et al. 2011). In Narkanda, a number of these bats were caught in a mist net set across an artificial waterhole while coming for drinking. Except for two male individuals, all the over 20 captured animals were either pregnant or lactating females which were released. Another 17 animals were also harp trapped and released from a nearby location including 16 pregnant or lactating females which indicate the presence of a maternity colony nearby. In Uttarakhand, these bats were caught flying over open streams or brooks in oak forest (Chakravarty et al. 2020). In Europe, foraging habit of this species over water bodies like drainage canals, streams and lakes is well documented (Shiel 2006; Spada et al. 2008).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFD92D13FF6DFE2BFE83F96D	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFD92D11FF6DF88BFE1EFBD4.text	03BB87E9FFD92D11FF6DF88BFE1EFBD4.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Pipistrellus babu Thomas 1915	<div><p>25. Pipistrellus babu Thomas, 1915</p><p>(Babu’s Pipistrelle)</p><p>New material: 2 M, 08.06.2017, Narkanda, Shimla district, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/434, 486; 1 F , 13.06.2017, Salogra, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/452; 1 F , 10.06.2017, Derghat, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/483; 2 M , 4.06.2017, Sangla, Kinnaur District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/484, 485; 1 M , 09.06.2017, Narkanda, Shimla District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/486; 1 F , 11.06.2017, Kandaghat, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, V /M/ERS/487; 1 M , 08.03.2019, Mandal, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, V /M/ERS/639; 1 M , 10.04.2021, Mandal, Chamoli District, Uttarakhand, V /M/ERS/652 .</p><p>Morphological description of specimens: All individuals had dark brown dorsal pelage speckled with russet brown hairs, especially on the flanks. The ventrum was lighter brown. Individual hairs on both sides were dark brown except for the tips which were slightly lighter (Fig. 22). The muzzle and ear were dark brown. The ears had four distinct ridges and were broadly triangular in shape. The tragus was of medium length and width, the anterior margin was almost straight while the posterior border was curved inward. The wings were attached to the base of the toes. Well–developed keels on calcars were present. All the examined males had a comparatively long (8–8.4 mm) pendulous penis, hirsute at the distal end (Fig. 22).</p><p>The skull had a relatively broad rostrum with a linear depression in the midline. The nasal notch was V shaped. In lateral view, the skull profile was straight except for the frontal region which gently elevated and then descended (Fig. 23A). The basisphenoid pits were deep and oval in shape. The posterior border of the palate had a small, pointed projection. The coronoid processes of mandibles were gently elevated from the condyle, however in one of our specimens (V /M/ERS/484), the coronoid process was raised at a higher angle although it did not exceed the lower canine in height.</p><p>The first upper incisors did not have an obvious secondary cusp. The second incisor was slightly shorter than the first. A strong secondary cusp in the canine was visible on all specimens. The first premolar was small and intruded in the tooth row, although visible from outside. The canine and second upper premolar were not in contact. All these characteristics conformed well to the descriptions and type of Pi. babu Thomas, 1915 .</p><p>The bacula of three specimens (V /M/ERS/639, 484 and 486) from three different localities in Himachal Pradesh were thin and long (5.5–5.8 mm). The distal end bifurcated into a fork with prongs of variable length and the proximal ends gradually enlarged and divided into two halves by a deep grove. In lateral view, they appeared almost straight with forward curving ends (Fig. 24). The width at the base was 0.8–0.9 mm .</p><p>DNA: We sequenced the COI and CYTB of six individuals of Pi. babu from Himachal Pradesh (M 2222/ V /M/ERS/485, M 2223/ V /M/ERS/484, M 2225/ V /M/ERS/486, M 2264/ V /M/ERS/483, M 2265/ V /M/ERS/487and M 2266/ V /M/ERS/452). These sequences were all very similar (&lt;1% K2P), and clearly represented a single species (Tables S2 and S 3). COI sequences from an unidentified pipistrelle from Uttarakhand and reported by Chakravorty et al. (2020) as “ Pi. cf. ceylonicus ” was in fact identical to these Himachal specimens and thus also assigned here to Pi. babu . Furthermore, multiple sequences of both genes and labelled as “ javanicus ” in the GenBank were clustered in very distinct (&gt;12% K2P distance) and non–monophyletic clades; (Figs 4 and 6). The Western Himalayan Pi. babu is thus genetically very distinctive from any other sequenced pipistrelle.</p><p>Echolocation call: We recorded the calls of 36 released individuals in KWLS. Echolocation calls were typical of Pipistrellus species with distinct FM and QCF components. On average the release calls were 5.7 ms long, with average bandwidth of 47 kHz, end frequency of 35 kHz and peak frequency of 40 kHz. These call characteristics overlapped with those of the much larger My. sicarius and may also be confusable with Mirostrellus joffrei calls emitted in clutter (Chakravarty et al. 2020).</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: The type specimen of Pi. babu was collected from Murree (C. 3.9070°N, 73.3943°E, 2400 m) in Punjab province, Pakistan, in the Pir Panjal Range of Western Himalayas (Thomas 1915) and certainly represents its westernmost occurence. In India, this bat was reported in “Northern India and lower Himalayas. Other specimens were recorded from Gharial, Masuri, Simla, Kumaon, Nepal, Darjeeling, Sylhet, central Provinces” (Thomas 1915). Bhat (1974) recorded this species from Sukhidhang (1380 m) in Almora district, Srinagar (550 m) in Pauri, and Ghonti (920 m) in Tehri districts of Uttarakhand. We caught many individuals of this pipistrelle at several localities in Solan, Shimla and Kinnaur districts of Himachal Pradesh and in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand during the present surveys. The species is apparently common and widespread in the region. Csorba et al. (1999) reported specimens of Pi. “ javanicus” babu from Sudame and Banthanti in Central Nepal with a note that they should be considered specifically distinct from Pi. javanicus . Hill &amp; Harrison (1987) reported specimens of Pi. babu from Nepal and from Pashok in Darjeeling in Eastern Himalaya of India. Das (2003) reported the dimensions of a few specimens of Pi. babu from Darjeeling. The external characters and cranial measurements of Darjeeling specimens conform well to our present specimens from Himachal Pradesh. The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago and the Natural History Museum, London hold specimens of this species from Sikkim, Eastern and Western Assam (as Pi. javanicus babu in Bates &amp; Harrison 1997). Our Western Himalayan specimens were recorded between elevations of 1500–3000 m whereas in Nepal, the species was recorded within elevations of 1500–2200 m (Csorba et al. 1999).</p><p>Taxonomic notes: The diagnosis of Pi. babu by Thomas (1915) was based on a suite of characters including the presence of a distinct post–calcarial lobe, moderately long penis and well developed baculum (about 6 mm in length), flatter muzzle, deep basial pits, faint secondary cusp to the first upper incisor and small, intruded first premolars; all these characters perfectly matched the examined specimens from Himachal Pradesh. However, Corbet &amp; Hill (1992) were in the opinion that babu “cranially and dentally agrees with javanicus ” and relegated the former as a subspecies of the latter. Most subsequent authors accepted this taxonomic arrangement and considered the two taxa as conspecific (i.e., Bates &amp; Harrison 1997; Simmons 2005). Our direct comparison of the type specimen of Pi. babu and topotypic Pi. javanicus (BMNH 1907.11.21.2 and 1909.1.5.296, respectively) revealed the following distinctive cranial features between both taxa: rostrum flatter, cranial profile more evenly ascending in Pi. babu (vs. rostrum deeper, profile more sharply ascending forming a bulbous anterior neurocranium in Pi. javanicus; compare Figs 23A and 23B); first upper incisor without evident secondary cusp (vs. present); anteorbital bridge wider (vs. narrow); basisphenoid pits well outlined and deep (vs. shallow, less demarcated). These traits were already noted by Csorba et al. (1999) in specimens of Pi. javanicus from Vietnam versus Pi. cf. javanicus [= Pi. babu] from Central Nepal. We show here that the Himalayan specimens not only match the morphological description of Pi. babu, but also that they are genetically very distinct from any other sequenced pipistrelle (Figs 4 and 6) and thus represent an independent species. Although the specific distinctness of Himalayan Pi. babu is clear, the taxonomic status of the pipistrelles called “ javanicus ” in northeastern India and elsewhere in the Oriental Region is far from resolved and reflects the difficulties to assign an appropriate species name to these Asian pipistrelles (e.g., Francis et al. 2010; Kruskop 2013). For instance, a series of sequences labelled “ Pipistrellus javanicus ” from Pakistan (e.g., GB MT081426) were in fact 99% identical to multiple European samples of Pi. kuhlii, indicating identification errors. Other haplotypes for various genes labelleld " Pipistrellus javanicus ” in GenBank also form multiple independent clusters which probably represent a taxonomic morass rather than a real polyphyly of a single species (Francis et al. 2010). To solve which of those clusters corresponds to genuine Pi. javanicus, topotypic material from Indonesia should be investigated.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFD92D11FF6DF88BFE1EFBD4	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFDB2D17FF6DFB13FDB1FE20.text	03BB87E9FFDB2D17FF6DFB13FDB1FE20.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Plecotus homochrous Hodgson 1847	<div><p>26. Plecotus homochrous Hodgson, 1847</p><p>(Hodgson’s long–eared bat)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 26.04.2021, Chopta, Chamoli District, Uttarakhand (V /M/ERS/654); 1 M , 27.04.2021, Kanchula Kharak, Chamoli District, Uttarakhand (V /M/ERS/655) .</p><p>Morphological description of specimens: This is a medium–sized vespertilionid with forearm length of 36.2– 39.4 mm in our measured specimens. As for all the congeneric species, it was instantly recognizable from its very distinctive long ears. The fur was long, buffy brown on the back and shorter ginger brown on the belly. The oval shaped ears joined over the forehead through a thin membrane. The ears were semi–translucent and had many prominent horizontal ridges and a semi–circular lobe projected from the base of the anterior border. The wings and tail membrane were light brown, hairless and the long tail was fully enclosed within the membrane. The wing attacheed to the mid metatarsus and calcar lobe was absent.</p><p>DNA: No biological material was obtained from these specimens, but COI haplotypes of Pl. homochrous from Uttarkhand (GB MN339194 and MN339195) were already reported by Chakravarty et al. (2020) and differed considerably from sympatric Pl. wardi (&gt;12% K2P) or from Pl. auritus (&gt;15% K2P; Table S2) with which it was previously associated (e.g., Bates &amp; Harrison 1997). Fukui et al. (2020) obtained similar phylogenetic results with other mtDNA markers.</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Devalsari (1698 m), Dhanaulti (2114 m) in Tehri Garhwal district; Ansuya Devi (2000 m), Chopta (2800 m) and Kanchula Kharak (2510 m) and Shokharakh (3065 m) in Chamoli district; Phurkia (c. 3250 m) in Bagheswar district (Chakravarty et al. 2020; present study) . Himachal Pradesh: Ratandi (2700 m), Shimla district (Bhat et al. 1983) .</p><p>The current specimens were taken from mixed temperate broadleaf forests and sub–alpine rhododendron forests. Previously in Uttarakhand, individuals were also caught in dense primary forests of oak, cedar, or sub– alpine rhododendron (Chakravarty et al. 2020). Although according to Spitzenberger et al. (2006), Pl. homochrous has been recorded in the southern slopes of the Himalayas generally at lower elevations than P. wardi, records of Pl. homochrous from Western Himalayas indicate it to be a highland species that often occurs in syntopy with Pl. wardi (Chakravarty et al. 2020) . Additionally, four individuals were also collected at high elevation sites (2200 m) in northern Vietnam, suggesting that throughout its geographical range Pl. homochrous is a highland species (Fukui et al. 2020; Chakravarty et al. 2024).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFDB2D17FF6DFB13FDB1FE20	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFDD2D17FF6DFE47FE98F834.text	03BB87E9FFDD2D17FF6DFE47FE98F834.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Plecotus wardi Thomas 1911	<div><p>27. Plecotus wardi Thomas, 1911</p><p>(Ward’s long–eared bat)</p><p>New material: 1 F, 08.06.2017, Narkanda, Shimla District, Himachal Pradesh (V /M/ERS/415); 2 F , 10.05.2019 Tungnath, KWLS, Uttarakhand (V /M/ERS/632 and 634); 1 M , 26.04.2021, Chopta, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand (V /M/ERS/658) .</p><p>Morphological description of specimens: A very distinctive bat with huge ears (32.5–42.6 mm) and medium– sized forearms (FA 41.9–45.6 mm). Tragus was spindle shaped and just short of half the length of ear. Dorsal fur (9.5 mm long) was beige or brown with darker roots while the ventral fur was creamy white with darker roots. Muzzle was flesh–coloured covered with scattered hairs. The patagium, interfemoral membranes were essentially naked except for the proximal ends. Feet were also covered with short hairs. The thumb was long (&gt; 7 mm) which can be used to differentiate externally this species from sympatric Pl. homochrous (thumb &lt;5 mm) (Fig. 15H).</p><p>The braincase was slim, longish (GTLi ≥ 17.0 mm). From the rostrum, the braincase elevated almost in a straight line till the frontal region. The braincase was slightly bulbous in the frontal region and constricted in the parietal region. The tympanic bullae were quite enlarged (maximal diameter 4.75 mm) and frontally extended almost to the level of hamular process. The zygomatic arches were not flared, thin, and enlarged mid–dorsally. As compared with Pl. homochrous, Pl. wardi was considerably larger in craniodental measurements (Table S4) and had stronger dentition (compare Figs 25 A-C).</p><p>DNA: The COI sequence of one specimen from Himachal Pradesh (M 2259 V /M/ERS/415) was very similar (about 1.5% K2P) to haplotypes from Uttarakhand (GB MN339196) and proved to be unique among the plecotine bats analyzed so far (Fig. 4). They were most closely related to Central Asian Pl. strelkovi (Chakravarty et al. 2020), but very distinct from those of Pl. austriacus (&gt;20% K2P) with which wardi had earlier been synonymized (e.g., Bates &amp; Harrison, 1997).</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Martoli (3575 m) and Milam (3740 m) in Pithoragarh district; Shokharakh (3065 m) in Chamoli district and Tungnath (3500 m) in Rudraprayag district (Spitzenberger et al. 2006; Chakravarty et al. 2020). Himachal Pradesh: Narkanda (2700 m), Shimla district (present study). One lactating female was caught in a harp trap inside pine–fir forest in Narkanda. Another lactating female was caught near an artificial waterhole early in the morning in a flap net and was released. Capture of lactating females again indicates the presence of a maternity colony nearby. The Uttarakhand specimen was caught in a mist net in alpine meadow in mid–May and did not show any apparent sign of lactation. This is a high–elevation species with records so far from altitudes ranging between 1700 m (Hari Parbat, Srinagar, India) and 3750 m (Milam, Uttarakhand). In Uttarakhand, it occured in sympatry with Pl. homochrous at 3000 m. This species was not recorded below 3000 m in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary (Chakravarty et al. 2020).</p><p>Taxonomic notes: The systematics of long eared bats of the genus Plecotus has been marred with uncertainity. Based on a global morphological and molecular revision Spitzenberger et al. (2006) distinguished at least 19 main lineages, most of which requiring species status. A recent review, however, indicated that the above study might have overestimated the species diversity and actually only two species, Pl. homochorus and Pl. wardi (including Pl. ariel) occur in the whole Himalayan region (Fukui et al. 2020). The former species is distributed from Pakistan, via northwestern India, Nepal, Tibet, and Yunnan, to northern Vietnam, whereas the latter is presently known from Pakistan, northwestern India, Tibet, Szechwan, and Nepal (Spitzenberger et al. 2006; Benda &amp; Gaisler 2015; Fukui et al. 2020).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFDD2D17FF6DFE47FE98F834	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFD02D1BFF6DFA42FC56FB48.text	03BB87E9FFD02D1BFF6DFA42FC56FB48.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Submyotodon caliginosus (Tomes 1859)	<div><p>28. Submyotodon caliginosus (Tomes, 1859)</p><p>New material: 1 M, 16.04.2019, Ansuya, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand (V /M/ERS/637) .</p><p>Morphological description of specimen: Externally, this bat resembled other small whiskered Myotis occurring in the Himalayas i.e., My. nipalensis and My. muricola . It had a dense, glossy dark brown fur. Individual hairs on the dorsum had light brown tips with dark roots; the ventral hairs had dark roots and greyish brown tips, resembling more to those of My. muricola . The face was hairy with prominent bristle–like hairs. The small feet had a wing insertion to the base of toe. However, the deep emargination on the posterior margin of the ears which projected forwards as an arched lobe near the base of the ear (Fig. 15F) was characteristic of this taxon and conveniently separated this genus from any Myotis species (Ruedi et al. 2021). The shape of the tragus was also different in being curved forwards and only tapering near the tip, a character more akin to Pipistrellus than Myotis .</p><p>In lateral view, the braincase appeared particularly flattened (SKH 4.21 mm) when compared to other Myotinae in the region and corresponded well to other congeners i.e., Su. moupinensis from southern China and Su. latirostris from Taiwan (Ruedi et al. 2021). Lower molars were nyctalodont as against myotodont state in most other Myotis .</p><p>DNA: No biological material was obtained here, but COI and CYTB haplotypes (GB MW054921 and MW054885, respectively) of specimens from Himachal Pradesh were reported in Ruedi et al. (2021) and confirmed that Submyotodon and Myotis were very divergent, the former being the most basal lineage of Myotinae .</p><p>Echolocation call: We recorded broadband echolocation calls (bandwidth=61.41 kHz) of short duration (5.6 ms), ending at 53.6 kHz. The calls had a short QCF component. Echolocation calls appeaedr to be separable from those of My. muricola on the basis of a higher end frequency. However, they may be confused with certain calls of My. longipes . The calls of My. longipes typically ended above 60 kHz but may stretch below 55 kHz where they overlap with the ending frequency of Su. caliginosus (Chakravarty et al. 2020) .</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand:Ansuya Devi (2000 m), Mandal (1530 m) and Shokharakh (3065 m) in Chamoli district; Pindar Valley (elevation unknown), Bageshwar District (Chakravarty et al. 2020; present study). Himachal Pradesh: Chatri (1820 m) in Chamba district; Mount Karol (1950 m) in Solan district; Narkanda (c. 2700 m), Shimla (c. 2200 m) in Shimla district; Sangla (2725 m) in Kinnaur district; Samayala (c. 1500 m) in Kangra district (Lindsay 1927; Ruedi et al. 2021; present study). The records of My. muricola from Kalatop Khajjiar (2480 m) in Chamba district (Saikia et al. 2011) also belong to this species. In Uttarakhand, this species was caught over a stream at an oak forest edge in and in a primary broadleaved forest. They were also mist netted over a small stream in sub–Alpine habitat in Shokharakh (Chakravarty et al. 2020). In Himachal Pradesh, individuals were commonly caught in oak and fir forest in similar elevation areas and apparently distributed across all physiographic zones (Ruedi et al. 2021).</p><p>So far, Su. caliginosus is known from northern Pakistan (Dunga Gali, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province; c. 34°3’N; 73°24’E, 2300 m) and along the Himalayas from Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal, and Sikkim in India (Benda 2010; Chakravarty et al. 2020; Ruedi et al. 2021).</p><p>Taxonomic notes: Tomes (1859) described Vespertilio caliginosus from an unspecified locality in India. Most subsequent workers considered it as a synonym of My. muricola, My. nipalensis or My. siligorensis (Thomas 1915b; Hill 1983; Bates &amp; Harrison 1997; Simons 2005) leading to its uncertain taxonomic status. Ruedi et al. (2021) clarified the situation by reviewing the morphological and genetic differences between these forms and concluded that each of these taxa represent well defined biological species and confirmed the generic distinction of Submyotodon from Myotis . During current investigations, all vouchers in ZSI Solan labelled as “ My. muricola ” from Himachal Pradesh (Saikia et al. 2011) were re–identified as Su. caliginosus (Ruedi et al. 2021) . Consequently, the occurrence of My. muricola in Himachal Pradesh is yet to be confirmed, although in Uttarakhand both species were found to occur in symparty (see above and Chakravarty et al. 2020).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFD02D1BFF6DFA42FC56FB48	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFD22D18FF6DFF66FAF0F984.text	03BB87E9FFD22D18FF6DFF66FAF0F984.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Miniopterus fuliginosus Hodgson 1835	<div><p>29. Miniopterus fuliginosus Hodgson, 1835</p><p>(Eastern long winged bat)</p><p>New material: 2 F, 11.06.2017, Derghat, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh , V /M/ERS/411, 412 and one released female at Mandal, Uttarakhand .</p><p>Morphological description of specimen: The individuals from the Western Himalayas had a light brown dorsal pelage intermixed with darker hairs whereas the ventral fur was uniform lighter brown with darker roots. Ears, muzzle and patagium were lighter brown. There was a small patch of dark brown hairs in the forehead just over the muzzle. Overall colour pattern was similar to specimens of the larger Mi. magnater from northeastern India.</p><p>As previously reported, Mi. fuliginosus had an average forearm length of 48.4 mm which was smaller than in Mi. magnater (50.6 mm) for Indian specimens (Saikia et al. 2020). The cranial dimensions of Mi. fuliginosus were also smaller (e.g., GTLi &lt;16.2 mm or CM 3 &lt;6. 5 mm) with no overlap with those of Mi. magnater (e.g., GTLi&gt; 16.9 mm or CM 3&gt; 6.7 mm).</p><p>DNA: No new biological material was obtained here but the CYTB and COI haplotypes (GB MW054886 and MW054924, respectively) of one of these Himachal Pradesh specimens (M 2262/ V /M/ERS/ 411) was reported in Ruedi et al. (2021) .</p><p>Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Bajawala (638 m), Dehradun district; Dhanaulti (2114 m), Tehri–Garhwal district; Ramnagar (330 m), Nainital district (Wroughton 1914; Chakravarty et al. 2020); Mandal (1600 m), Chamoli district (present study). Himachal Pradesh: Barog Tunnel (1560 m), Brewery Tunnel (1480 m); Kandaghat (1560 m); Chambaghat (1450 m), Solan district (labelled as Mi. schreibersii in Saikia et al. 2011).</p><p>Two adult females in non–reproductive state were caught in a harp–trap set near a concrete pond amidst a farmland bordering an oak forest patch. Earlier studies in Himachal Pradesh reported its common occurrence in the crevices of several dark, humid railway tunnels along Kalka–Shimla track (Saikia et al. 2011). Our collection site was also located near a railway tunnel where these animals were likely to be roosting. In Uttarakhand, this bat was recorded in a variety of habitats like open streams, shrub–covered hills to oak forests and pregnant individuals were caught in the month of May (Chakravarty et al. 2020). The minimum and maximum echolocation call frequency recorded was 47.0 kHz and 88.9 kHz respectively (Chakravarty et al. 2020).</p><p>Taxonomic notes: For several decades, many Asian, African, and Australasian taxa of mid–size Miniopterus were considered to represent a single polytypic species, Mi. schreibersii s.l. As such, this species name was associated to most reports from the Old World, including from India (e.g., Bates &amp; Harrison 1990). New approaches combining morphology and molecular methods clearly demonstrated that Mi. schreibersii s.s. is in fact restricted to the Western Palearactic and eastward does not range beyond the Caucasus. Indeed, recent accounts using such integrative approaches evidenced that the Indian Subcontinent was home to five species of Miniopterus, i.e. Mi. magnater, Mi. fuliginosus, Mi. phillipsi, Mi. pusillus and Mi. srinii (Kusuminda et al. 2022; Srinivasulu &amp; Srinivasulu 2023). In the Western Himalayas, current genetic and morphologic evidence support only the occurrence of Mi. fuliginosus, while the larger Mi. magnater (and the much smaller Mi. pusillus) are found further east and south of this region (see e.g., Saikia et al. 2020), the last species ( Mi. phillipsi and Mi. srinii) being endemic to southern India and Sri Lanka.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFD22D18FF6DFF66FAF0F984	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
03BB87E9FFAD2D6FFF6DFE9EFE73FF30.text	03BB87E9FFAD2D6FFF6DFE9EFE73FF30.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Rhinolophus affinis Horsfield 1823	<div><p>Rhinolophus affinis: Himachal Pradesh, India: ZSI-HARC M28.</p><p>Rhinolophus nippon: Himachal Pradesh, India: ZSI-HARC CW12, 28; Nepal: HNHM 95.57 .1., 97.57.2., 97.57.3., 95.57.10., 98.5.26.</p><p>Rhinolophus ferrumequinum: Kashmir, India: HNHM 92.80.1.</p><p>Rhinolophus perniger: Himachal Pradesh, India: ZSI-HARC CW21 .</p><p>Rhinolophus sinicus: Himachal Pradesh, India: ZSI-HARC M27.</p><p>Hypsugo savii: Switzreland: MHNG 1756.088, 1868.067–080, 1956.056, 1999.056, 1999.075; Greece: MHNG 1807.061–63; Iran: MHNG 1703.092–94.</p><p>Myotis blythii: Himachal Pradesh, India: ZSI-HARC CW34, 35, M34; ZS-NERC V/M/ERS/405.</p><p>Myotis frater: China: AMNH 48039 (holotype); Taiwan: HNHM 2004.19.03., MHNG TS85, NTU FB006. NTU S51.</p><p>Myotis laniger: Vietnam: HNHM 93.57 .1, 98.20.2, IEBR NH32, NTS1705, NTS1706; Meghalaya, India: 92.108.1, 92.108.2, 92.108.3; Taiwan: KMC 11855, 11866; MHNG 1988.064; THUMB B027, B028, B102, B104; Fujian, China: ZMB 4146 (lectotype) .</p><p>Myotis longicaudatus: Russia: AMNH 245368; South Korea: HNHM 2003.37.44.; Japan: HNHM 2013.11.1 ., KKC 052, 056, TO1511, KMC 6466, 6465, 6466, 6467, 6519, 6523, 6527, 6537, 6538, 6541, 12148, 12149, 12444, 12449, 12984, 12985, MHC 251, MHNG 1325.096, NSMT 2606 (holotype of My. l. kaguyae), 3686 (paratype of My. l. kaguyae), 4584, 5683, 9573, 10538, 10539, 11846, 12375, 14802, 14810, 16673, 20141, 22524, 25635, 25644.</p><p>Myotis longipes: Kashmir, India: HNHM 92.104.45., 92.104.47., 92.104.48.</p><p>Myotis nipalensis: Himachal Pradesh, India: ZSI-HARC CW38 .</p><p>Plecotus homochrous: Nepal: NHMUK 1854.9.1.1 (holotype), NHMUK 1879.11.21.98; Uttarakhand, India NHMUK 1814.7.10.31; Pakistan: NHMUK 1905.11.19.1 (holotype of puck) .</p><p>Plecotus wardi: Jammu and Kashmir, India: BMNH 1906.10.3.1, 1906.10.3.2 (holotype) 8.7.6.3; India? 8.7.6.1, 8.7.6.2, 10.10.12.4; Pakistan: BMNH 10.7.13.1, 25.6.10.2, 77.433, 77.434, 77.435, HNHM 99.14.2., 99.14.3, 99.14.4 .</p><p>Pipistrellus babu: Pakistan: BMNH 1907.11.21.2 (holotype) .</p><p>Pipistrellus javanicus: Java, Indonesia: BMNH 62 a (holotype of tralatitius), 1909.1.5.296; MHNG 1487.014 .</p><p>Scotozous dormeri: Himachal Pradesh, India ZSI–HARC CW 39, 40.</p><p>Submyotodon caliginosus: “Himalayas”: BMNH 75.10.27.1, 75.10.27.2 (syntypes of blanfordi), ZMB 4373, 4717 (syntypes of blanfordi); “Kashmir” BMNH 8.7.6.10, India: BMNH 7.1.1.512 (holotype), Himachal Pradesh, India: BMNH 13.1.19.18, 13.1.19.19, Uttarakhand, India: BMNH 14.7.10.55, Sikkim, India: BMNH 15.9.1.21, 91.10.7.57; Himachal Pradesh, India: BMNH 23.1.9.14, 23.9.1.13., Nepal: HNHM 98.8.7.; Pakistan: BMNH 10.1.18.17, 10.1.18.18, 71.1574, 71.1575, 71.1576, 71. 577, Himachal Pradesh, India: ZSI-HARC M50, ZSI-NERC V/M/ERS/417, 418, 421.</p><p>APPENDIX B: An updated checklist of the bat species reported from the Western Himalayas based on previous and the present studies.</p><p>Zoogeographic affinities are based on known distribution pattern of the species. UTK and HP stand for Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, respectively. *Indicates species encountered during the present surveys.</p><p>.....continued on the next page</p><p>APPENDIX B: (Continued)</p><p>.....continued on the next page</p><p>APPENDIX B: (Continued)</p><p>.....continued on the next page</p><p>APPENDIX B: (Continued)</p><p>.....continued on the next page</p><p>APPENDIX B: (Continued)</p><p>.....continued on the next page</p><p>APPENDIX B: (Continued)</p><p>.....continued on the next page</p><p>APPENDIX B: (Continued)</p><p>.....continued on the next page</p><p>APPENDIX B: (Continued)</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB87E9FFAD2D6FFF6DFE9EFE73FF30	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Saikia, Uttam;Chakravarty, Rohit;Csorba, Gabor;Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed;Ruedi, Manuel	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): 1-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5644.1.1
