Schaub's myotis explained

Schaub's myotis (Myotis schaubi) is a species of vesper bat. It is found in Armenia and Iran, and known from fossils from Hungary and Russia.

Taxonomy

Schaub's myotis was described by Tivadar Kormos in 1934 based on a fossil found in Hungary. The fossil was dated to the Pliocene epoch. The subspecies Myotis natteri araxenus (Dahl, 1947) was later allocated to it, and the name Myotis kretzoii (Topál, 1981) was also synonymized.^[1] The eponym for the species name schaubi is Samuel Schaub (1882 - 1955), a Swiss paleontologist.^[2]

A 2020 study found that its sister taxon is Myotis tschuliensis.

Description

Individuals have a total body length of and a forearm length of . The tail is long.^[3]

Range and habitat

Its temporal range is from the Pliocene to modern times. During the Pleistocene epoch, Schaub's myotis was distributed widely throughout central and eastern Europe.^[1] Fossils of this species have been found in Hungary and Russia. At present, its range includes Armenia and Iran, and it appears endemic to the Caucasus region.^[3]

During the day, it roosts in rock cracks, caves, and buildings. Its habitat preferences are unknown, but could include shrubland and forests.

Conservation

It is a rarely encountered species, and thus little is known about it. It has been considered a data deficient species by the IUCN since 2008.

Notes and References

1. Horáček. I.. Hanák. V.. Gaisler. J.. 2000. Bats of the Palearctic region: a taxonomic and biogeographic review. Proceedings of the VIIIth European Bat Research Symposium.
2. Book: Beolens . B. . Watkins . M. . Grayson . M. . The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals . Johns Hopkins University Press . 2009 . 978-0-8018-9533-3 . 361.
3. Smirnov. D. G.. Vekhnik. V. P.. Dzhamirzoyev. G. S.. Titov. S. V. . 2020. On the taxonomic status of species from the group Myotis nattereri (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) in the Eastern Caucasus. Nature Conservation Research. 5. 4. 30–42. 10.24189/ncr.2020.052. free.