Peters, 1859
Hemprich's Long-eared bat
External characters (Table 76)
This is a heavily built bat with an average forearm length of 65.1 mm (64.7-65.6 mm); the tail is shorter than the head and body (Ohe2). The ears are pale yellowish brown in colour and are crossed by a number of transverse ridges; they are large, about two-thirds the length of the forearm and are separate from each other on the forehead (Ohe3). Each ear has a small antitragus which is defined by a shallow notch at its origin just internal to the base of the outer border of the ear. The tragus is very large, about half the height of the pinna. The eyes appear large and dark in comparison to the pink fleshy face. The nostrils are crescent-shaped and the muzzle is simple in form. The pelage is dense and long on the dorsal surface; it is shorter on the belly. Adults are very pale with the basal three-quarters of hairs on the back essentially white and their tips buffy-brown. The ventral surface is uniformly very pale grey. Immature specimens are darker and greyer than the adults. The interfemoral and wing membranes are essentially without hairs and are semitranslucent and pallid, a uniform pale brown. The wings are inserted on the metatarsal of the outer toe of each foot. The feet are relatively small, less than half the length of the tibiae. The baculum is large and crescent-shaped in lateral view (Fig. 158).
Cranial characters
The skull (Fig. 159) is large and comparatively elongated with a condylo-canine length of 21.7 mm. The rostrum is long, robust and with a smooth upper surface; it has well defined supraorbital ridges and prominent angular projections posteriorly; it is about one and a half times the breadth of the postorbital constriction. The braincase is not distinctly elevated above the rostrum. The sagittal crest is evident over the posterior part of the braincase where it is recurved to the lambda which is well developed and forms the most posterior part of the skull. The lambdoid crests are also well developed. The zygomatic arches are moderately flared outwards with their widest points just anterior to the posterior roots. The anterior emargination of the palate nearly attains the level of the back of the canines. Shallow basisphenoid pits are present on the floor of the braincase opposite the hamulars. The tympanic bullae are very large, forming a prominent bulge in the ventral profile of the skull. The coronoid process of each half mandible is high, with both the anterior and posterior margins steep and the tip bluntly rounded-off; the angular process is powerful and outwardly deflected, it projects behind the condyle.
Dentition
- The dentition is heavy but reduced (Fig. 160), with an upper toothrow length (C-M3) of 8.5 mm. The single upper incisor (I2) is large, unicuspid and with a well defined cingulum posteriorly. The canine is broad and powerful; it is without a secondary cusp but has a well developed cingulum (Fig. 161). There is only one upper premolar (PM4) which attains about two-thirds the height of the canine; it has a very small antero-medial cusp. M1 and M2 are normal in structure, with the metacones predominating, the hypocones are absent and the parastyles large. M3 is much reduced, its crown area distinctly less than half that of M2; it lacks any trace of the mesostyle or metacone (Fig. 161).
- The three lower incisors are bifid and overlapping. The lower canine is powerful, with the cingulum forming a weak antero-medial cusp above and behind the third incisor (i3). The first lower premolar (pm2) is small; it is situated in or slightly extruded from the toothrow. The second lower premolar (pm4) greatly exceeds the trigonid of m1 in size. m2 is broader and has a larger crown area than that of m1. The talonid of m3 is greatly reduced.
Karyology
2N= 30; with sixteen metacentrics, four submetacentrics, six acrocentrics, two "dot-like chromosomes", a submetacentric X and a small Y chromosome (Zima et al., 1991).
Variation
Specimens from the Indian subcontinent are referred to O. h. cinereus on account of their darker colour, longer ears and larger size (DeBlase, 1980).