Milne-Edwards, 1872
Little Tube-nosed bat; Tibetan Tube-nosed bat
External characters (Table 111)
This is a small bat with an average forearm length of 28.6 mm (27.7-29.6 mm). The muzzle is typical of Murina (Mule1) with the nostrils tubular, protuberant and opening outwards. The ears are broad and rounded, without an emargination on the posterior border. The tragus is long narrow and tapering. The pelage is thick and very soft. In the two skins seen from Sikkim, it is a rich mixture of gold and brown on the dorsal surface; the bases of the hairs are dark brown; the mid-parts are pale straw brown; some of the tips are straw or gold in colour, others dark brown. The palest hairs appear as golden threads throughout. On the ventral surface, the hairs have dark roots but pale grey tips. The wings are a uniform mid-brown and are essentially naked. The interfemoral membrane is moderately hairy above, with golden hairs; the undersurface is lightly covered in short grey hairs. The feet are hairy.
Cranial characters
The skull is very small and delicate with a condylo-canine length of 12.3 mm. The rostrum is narrow, shallow and elongated; there is a distinct depression along its midline, this continues into the interorbital region. In lateral profile, the front of the braincase is distinctly elevated above the rostrum and as in M. leucogaster , the mid-part of the braincase greatly exceeds the lambda in height. The zygomata are very delicate and are not greatly expanded; they are widest posteriorly. The palate is convergent anteriorly. The mandible is small and delicate, unlike M. leucogaster (Fig. 247) the coronoid process is not greatly enlarged.
Dentition
- Upper toothrow length (C-M3) averages 4.5 mm (4.5-4.5 mm). The first upper incisor (I2) is indistinctly bicuspidate and situated anterior to the second (I3). The second has a squarish outline and greatly exceeds the first in crown area. The upper canine is much reduced, equal to the second premolar (PM4) in height but less than half its crown area. The first premolar (PM2) is small, between one third and half the crown area of PM4. The upper and lower molars are comparable to those of M. leucogaster (Fig. 250).
- The lower canine is very weak. The first lower premolar (pm2) is half the crown area of the second (pm4). The talonids of m1 and m2 are nearly equal in crown area to the trigonids of their respective teeth.
Variation
Specimens from the Indian Subcontinent are referred to the nominate race M. a. aurata .