(Dobson, 1873)
Kashmir Cave bat
External characters (Table 69)
This is a small species with an average forearm length of 37.5 mm (36.5-39.0 mm). The feet are greatly enlarged, conspicuously bigger than those of M. muricola and exceeding half the length of the tibiae. In turn, the toes are more than half the length of each foot; the claws are long and strong. The ears (Mlo1) are naked, relatively tall and narrow, particularly at the tips; the anterior border of each ear is evenly convex and without a basal notch; the posterior border is shallowly concave above and convex below. The tragus is tall, about half the height of the pinna; it is narrow and tapers towards the tip. The head is hairy except for the immediate vicinity of the eyes and around the nostrils. The pelage is dense, soft and of medium length. On the dorsal surface, it is greyish brown with the hair tips paler than the bases (Mlo2). On the ventral surface, the hair tips are creamy white and the bases dark brown/ black. In the wing, the third metacarpal just exceeds the fourth and fifth in length. Each wing is attached to the distal end of the outer metatarsal of its respective foot. The interfemoral and wing membranes are a uniform brown. The wings are nearly naked with some hairs on the inter-femoral membrane adjacent to the femora and tibiae.
Cranial characters
The skull is small but robust, with an average condylo-canine length of 12.4 mm (12.2-12.8 mm). The braincase is bulbous; it is more rounded than that of M. muricola especially posteriorly. It is distinctly elevated above the flattened rostrum. The sagittal and lambdoid crests are scarcely evident. The supraoccipital is very slightly convex and forms the most posterior part of the skull. When viewed from behind, the braincase is distinctly taller in relation to its width than that of M. muricola or M. daubentonii . The zygomata are widely flared. The palate is concave and the mesopterygoid space short and broad. The coronoid process of each half mandible is characteristically short; its anterior border is vertical but its posterior border is almost horizontal. The condyle is on a line with the tip of the lower canine; the angular process is very weak.
Dentition
- Upper toothrow length (C-M3) averages 5.2 mm (5.1-5.3 mm). The upper canine is characteristically very weak; it is about equal to or only slightly exceeds the height and is about half to two-thirds the crown area of the third upper premolar (PM4) (Fig. 139). The first (PM2) and second (PM3) upper premolars are minute. PM3 is slightly displaced internally from the toothrow and is half to two-thirds the crown area of PM2.
- The lower canine is very small; it is two-thirds the crown area and height of the third lower premolar (pm4). The first (pm2) and second (pm3) lower premolars are greatly reduced in size, considerably more so than those of M. horsfieldii (Fig. 146). pm3 is half the crown area of pm2; it is situated in the toothrow. pm2 and the third premolar (pm4) are not in contact. The upper and lower molars are relatively large in comparison to the canines and premolars but are otherwise unremarkable.
Variation
All specimens from the Indian subcontinent are provisionally referred to the nominate race M. l. longipes .