Myotis hyrcanicus
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| Myotis hyrcanicus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Vespertilionidae |
| Genus: | Myotis |
| Species: | M. hyrcanicus |
| Binomial name | |
| Myotis hyrcanicus Benda, Reiter & Vallo, 2012 | |
Myotis hyrcanicus is a bat in the genus Myotis known only from northeastern Iran.
The species was named in 2012 by a team led by Czech biologist Petr Benda. The description was based on a single specimen collected in 2006.[1] Based on mitochondrial DNA evidence, it is most closely related to Myotis alcathoe from Europe, but the two differ by at least 9.5% in their sequences, indicating that they are different species.[2]
The only known specimen was collected in an alluvial forest at Kordabad in Iran's northeastern Golestan province.[1] However, Iran's mammal fauna is not well known, and the true range of the species is likely to extend further west in the Hyrcanian forests ecoregion, perhaps even into Azerbaijan.[2]
It is a small species, with a forearm length of 32.4 millimetres (1.28 in) and ear length of 14.2 millimetres (0.56 in). The fur is brownish, with gray-brown face, ears and wings. It is similar to Myotis alcathoe, but with a relatively longer rostrum (front part of the skull) and larger teeth.[1] It shares a relatively narrow skull with Myotis alcathoe circassicus, the Caucasian subspecies of M. alcathoe.[2] However, the last upper premolar is relatively large in M. hyrcanicus and small in M. alcathoe circassicus.[1][2]