(Cretzschmar, 1830/31)
Eastern Barbastelle
External characters (Table 75)
This is a small bat with an average forearm length of 40.5 mm (38.7-42.1 mm). The muzzle is short, flat and wide, with prominent glandular swellings which are densely hairy and rise above the level of the flat median area of the muzzle; the upper lip is densely fringed with hairs. The nostrils are cresent-shaped and open upwards and outwards on a flat, hairless median space which is bordered laterally by two elevated crescentic ridges. The ears are blackish-brown (Ble2), with ill defined transverse ridges; they are hairy on their posterior surfaces, except for the tips; they are not greatly enlarged and face forwards; their anterior faces are close together and are joined at their bases on the forehead. The outline of each ear is nearly square; there is no defined antitragal lobe. The tragus is triangular in form and large, more than half the height of the pinna (Fig. 154). The tibiae are long and the feet relatively small. The wings and interfemoral membrane are uniformly brown; the former attached to the base of each outer toe. The pelage is long, fine and soft on the dorsal surface; it is shorter on the belly. The head and back are essentially black, although on the posterior back and flanks the hairs have slightly paler tips and a glossy sheen. On the ventral surface, the hairs are dark blackish brown but with some slightly paler hairs near the vent in some specimens. The tail is long.
Cranial characters
The skull (Fig. 155) is relatively small with an average condylo-canine length of 13.8 mm (13.4-14.2 mm). The upper surface of rostrum is smooth and slightly concave. The nasal aperture is relatively large and broad. In contrast to Plecotus austriacus (Fig. 151), the supraorbital ridges are not strongly developed and the zygomatic arches are noticeably weaker, without a median dorsal curvature. The dorsal profile rises moderately steeply from nasal aperture with highest point of skull set far forward. The palate is relatively broader anteriorly than that of P. austriacus and less concave. The post dental extension is poorly developed, with a blunt median spine. The tympanic bullae are relatively small in comparison to P. austriacus , in consequence the basioccipital is broad. The coronoid process of each half mandible is short.
Dentition
- Upper toothrow length (C-M3) averages 4.9 mm (4.7-5.1 mm). The first upper incisor (I2) is bicuspidate; the second (I3) is smaller, with its crown excavated postero-laterally. The canine is slender with a well developed cingulum but without secondary cusps. The first upper premolar (PM2) is minute and displaced inwards from toothrow; it is invisible from without since the canine and the second premolar (PM4) are in contact (Fig. 156). In contrast to Plecotus (Fig. 152), the antero-medial cusp of pm4 is well developed. M1 and M2 are without hypocones and the mesostyle is weaker than the parastyle and metastyle. M3 has three commissures and a metacone.
- In the lower dentition, the three incisors are overlapping; the third (i3) is situated below the well developed anterior cingular cusp of the weak lower canine. In contrast to Plecotus , only two lower premolars are present. The first (pm2) is small, about one third the height and crown area of the second (pm4); pm4 is about equal in crown area to the trigonid of m1. In m1 and m2, the talonid exceeds the trigonid in size; in m3 it is reduced.
Variation
Specimens from the Indian subcontinent are referred to B. l. darjelingensis , which is distinguished by its darker pelage colour from the nominate form B. l. leucomelas (DeBlase, 1980).