Leach, 1821
Asiatic Lesser Yellow House bat
External characters (Table 79)
This species, with an average forearm length of 49.0 mm (44.0-56.4 mm), can only be distinguished with certainty from S. heathii by its smaller size. In all other structures it is essentially similar. The pelage is chestnut brown above (Sku1); paler below but usually without the characteristic yellowish tinge of S. heathii (She2). The baculum is comparable in general form to that of S. heathii (Fig. 168).
Cranial and dental characters
Similar to but smaller than that of S. heathii (She1, Fig. 170 ,Fig. 171) with an average condylo-canine length of 17.3 mm (16.3-18.0 mm) and an average upper toothrow length (C-M3) of 6.5 mm (6.1-6.8 mm).
Karyology
2N=36 FN=52 based on specimens from Varanasi, India (Pathak and Sharma, 1969).
Variation
Specimens from the Indian subcontinent are provisionally referred to S. k. wroughtoni .
Taxonomic remarks
Specimens of the small Scotophilus from India have been variably assigned in the past to S. temminckii and S. wroughtoni . However, following Hill and Thonglongya, 1972, the taxon S. kuhlii is considered to be the correct species name.