UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Volume 14, No. 13, pp. 161-164, 1 fig.
May 21, 1962




A New Bat (Myotis) From Mexico

BY

E. RAYMOND HALL




UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
LAWRENCE
1962




UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Henry S. Fitch,
Theodore H. Eaton, Jr.




Volume 14, No. 13, pp. 161-164, 1 fig.
Published May 21, 1962




UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Lawrence, Kansas




PRINTED BY
JEAN M. NEIBARGER, STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA, KANSAS
1962

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A New Bat (Myotis) from Mexico

BY

E. RAYMOND HALL


A single specimen of little brown bat from the northern part of the
state of Veracruz seems to be of an heretofore unrecognized species. It
is named and described below.

     =_Myotis elegans_= new species

     _Holotype._--Female, adult, skin and skull, No. 88398 Museum of
     Natural History, The University of Kansas; 12-1/2 mi. N. Tihuatlán,
     300 ft. elevation, Veracruz, Mexico; obtained on September 24,
     1961, by Percy L. Clifton, original No. 985.

     _Geographic distribution._--Known only from the type locality.

     _Diagnosis._--A small-footed species having a short tail and small
     skull. Pelage on upper parts near (16' _l_) Prout's Brown
     (capitalized color terms after Ridgway, Color Standards and Color
     Nomenclature, Washington, D. C., 1912), and more golden on
     underparts; ears pale brownish and flight-membranes only slightly
     darker; thumb small (7.5 mm. including wrist); tragus slender but
     deeply notched. Longitudinal, dorsal profile of skull relatively
     straight but frontal region elevated from rostrum and lambdoidal
     region elevated from posterior part of parietal region; posterior
     margin of P4 (in occlusal view) notched.

     _Comparisons._--Among named kinds of _Myotis_, _M. elegans_ shows
     most resemblance to the species _M. californicus_ and _M.
     subulatus_. Differences from the latter include shorter tail and
     ear, more golden color on underparts, pale (not blackish) lips,
     ears and flight membranes, more slender tragus, shorter skull,
     posterior border of P4 (in occlusal view) more deeply notched, and
     longitudinal dorsal profile of skull higher in frontal and
     lambdoidal regions.

     Differences from _M. californicus_ include shorter tail, more
     golden color on underparts, deeper notch in tragus, shorter skull,
     notched instead of smooth posterior border of P4 (in occlusal
     view), longitudinal, dorsal profile of skull less abruptly elevated
     in frontal region and with (instead of without) prelambdoidal
     depression. From _M. c. mexicanus_ that occurs to the north, west,
     and south of the type locality of _M. elegans_ the latter further
     differs in darker color, paler ears, paler flight membranes, and
     lesser size, including skull.

     Differences from _M. nigricans_ of the same region include reddish
     instead of black pelage, smaller hind foot, smaller skull, rostrum
     smaller in relation to remainder of skull, narrower interorbital
     region, and absence of a sagittal crest.

     _Measurements._--Total length, 79; length of tail, 34; length of
     hind foot, 7.5; length of ear from notch, 12; length of tragus,
     6.5; weight, 4 grams; length of forearm, 33.0; greatest length of
     skull, 12.4; condylobasal length, 11.9; interorbital constriction,
     3.2; breadth of braincase, 6.1; occipital depth, 4.5; length of
     mandible, 8.9; length of maxillary tooth-row, 4.6; maxillary
     breadth at M3, 4.9; length of mandibular tooth-row, 5.0. Degree of
     wear on teeth, stage 2 (in terminology of Miller and Allen, Bull.
     U. S. Nat. Mus., 144, May 25, 1928).

_Remarks._--The longitudinal dorsal profile of the skull and the deeply
notched posterior border of P4 seem to be distinctive of _elegans_. When
the characters of _elegans_ first were tabulated it was felt that it
probably was only subspecifically different from some previously named
species. But further study of the distinctive characters indicates that
they are outside the range of variation of any near relative of
_elegans_ and it, therefore, is here accorded specific rank.

[Illustration: FIG. 1. Lateral view (left) and dorsal view (right) of
the holotype of _Myotis elegans_, × 2.]

     _Material examined._--Known only from the holotype.

     _Transmitted April 2, 1962._

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