Myotis pequinius, Thomas, 1908

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Vespertilionidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 716-981 : 980-981

494.

Peking Myotis

Myotis pequinius

French: Murin de Pékin / German: Peking-Mausohr / Spanish: Ratonero de Pekin

Taxonomy. Myotis (Leuconoe) pequinius Thomas, 1908 ,

“Cave 30 miles [= 48 km] W. of Peking [Hopeh, China]. 600° [= 183 m].”

Subgenus Myotis ; myotis species group. Myotis pequinius appears to be related to M. bombinus and M. nattereri tschuliensis based on limited genetic data. There might be at least two species under M. pequinius as currently defined, based on genetic data showing that there are two highly divergent clades within the species. Additional studies are needed. Monotypic.

Distribution. E China (from Beijing to Sichuan in the SW and Anhui in the SE).

Descriptive notes. Head—body 62 mm, tail 42 mm, ear 14:9-19- 9 mm, hindfoot 8- 4— 12 mm, forearm 43-8-52- 7 mm. Fur of the Peking Myotisis short and velvety. Dorsal pelage is gray reddish brown; venter is off-white. Ears are short, with notch on posterior borders a little below tips; tragusis relatively short at ¢.50% the ear length. Wings attach to ankle, and posterior margin of uropatagium is hairless orslightly fringed with hairs; feet are large. Skull has short and distinctly upturned rostrum; frontal region is very low and flat: and P? and P, are both very small and in tooth row, occasionally absent. Dental formula usually has 38 teeth or rarely 36 when an upper or lower premolar is missing.

Habitat. Forested areas.

Food and Feeding. Feces from Shanxi contained Coleoptera (80% by volume), Hemiptera (10%), Lepidoptera (5-2%), Diptera (3:5%), lepidopteran larvae (0-6%), Odonata (0-6%), and Acari (0-1%). Diet, wing shape, and call design suggest that Peking Myotis gleans prey off of vegetation in cluttered habitats, butthis has yet to be confirmed.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. The Peking Myotis roosts in caves and houses. Calls are steep FM sweeps, with average start frequency of 84-2 kHz (62-4-99-2 kHz), end frequency of 16-9 kHz (13-6-19-2 kHz), peak frequency of 32-8 kHz (23-2-40 kHz), interpulse interval of 93-4 milliseconds (56-6—144-4 milliseconds), and duration of 5-7 milliseconds (3-9-7-5 milliseconds) in Shanxi.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Holotype and one other specimen were collected in a cave that also included a species of Miniopterus .

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Peking Myotis is not particularly common and was regionally listed in China as near threatened.

Bibliography. Jiang Tinglei, Sun Keping et al. (2010), Jones et al. (2006), Puechmaille, Allegrini et al. (2012), Ruedi et al. (2013), Smith & Xie Yan (2008), Smith, Johnston, Jones & Rossiter (2008h).

Figures

475. Russian Myotis (Myotis petax), 476. Big-footed Myotis (Myotis macrodactylus), 477. Fringed Long-footed Myotis (Myotis fimbriatus), 478. Ricketts Big-footed Myotis (Myotis pilosus), 479. Mandelli’s Myotis (Myotis sicarius), 480. Bechstein’s Myotis (Myotis bechsteinii), 481. Long-tailed Myotis (Myotis longicaudatus), 482. Daubenton’s Myotis (Myotis daubentonii), 483. Reddish Myotis (Myotis soror), 484. Fraternal Myotis (Myotis frater), 485. Bokhara Myotis (Myotis bucharensis), 486. Lesser Myotis (Myotis blythii), 487. Greater Myotis (Myotis myotis), 488. Maghreb Myotis (Myotis punicus), 489. Natterer’s Myotis (Myotis nattereri), 490. Cryptic Myotis (Myotis crypticus), 491. Schaub’s Myotis (Myotis schaubi), 492. Escalera’s Myotis (Myotis escalerar), 493. Zenati Myotis (Myotis zenatius), 494. Peking Myotis (Myotis pequinius), 495. Far Eastern Myotis (Myotis bombinus), 496. Large Myotis (Myotis chinensis)

Distribution. E China (from Beijing to Sichuan in the SW and Anhui in the SE).