Thomas, 1915
Mandelli's Mouse-eared bat
External characters (Table 62)
This is a smaller species than M. blythii (Mbl1) with an average forearm length of 50.7 mm (48.1-54.6 mm). The ears are dark and have bluntly rounded tips (Msi1). The anterior border of each ear is evenly rounded and convex; the posterior border has a long shallow concavity beneath the tip. The tragus is well developed and is about half the height of the pinna. In the wing, the third metacarpal exceeds the fourth and fifth in length. The wings are attached to the base of the first phalanx of the outer metatarsal of each foot. The feet are not greatly enlarged and are about equal to half the length of the tibiae. The wing and interfemoral membranes are semi-translucent, dark brown/ black in colour and without hairs, above and below. The pelage is dense, relatively short and very soft. It is a uniform deep chocolate brown on the dorsal surface (Msi2). The ventral surface is paler; the hair tips are ginger coloured; the roots are dark. The forehead and muzzle are covered in hairs; the ears and around the eyes and nostrils are essentially naked. The baculum is small, saddle-shaped with a blunt rounded tip (Fig. 131).
Cranial characters
The skull is conspicuously smaller than that of M. blythii (Mbl2) with an average condylo-canine length of 17.4 mm (16.9-17.7 mm). The rostrum is long and robust; its upper surface is evenly rounded and its breadth is accentuated by the development of the lachrymal ridges (Msi3). The dorsal profile exhibits only a slight post nasal depression and the braincase appears relatively shallow (Msi4). The zygomata are short and widest posteriorly. The sagittal crest is weakly developed, being most prominent in the fronto-parietal region. The lambdoid crests are also weak. The supraoccipital is nearly vertical and the lambda just forms the most posterior part of the skull. The braincase is small and when viewed from above, it scarcely exceeds the rostrum in surface area. The palate is concave with its anterior emargination extending to about the midpoint of the canines (Msi5); its postdental extension is broad and about equal in length to the short mesopterygoid space. Each half mandible is more delicate than that of M. blythii . The horizontal ramus is shallower and the coronoid process less robust.
Dentition
Upper toothrow length (C-M3) averages 7.3 mm (7.1-7.5 mm). The dentition is significantly less robust but comparable in morphology to that of M. blythii , except that the second upper (PM3) and lower premolars (pm3) are relatively smaller. In particular, pm3 has a crown area of between one quarter and one third that of pm2; in M. blythii it is between half and two-thirds the area.
Variation
All specimens are referred to the nominate subspecies M. s. sicarius .