The fraternal myotis (''Myotis frater'') is a species of

vesper bat Vespertilionidae is a family of microbats, of the order Chiroptera, flying, insect-eating mammals variously described as the common, vesper, or simple nosed bats. The vespertilionid family is the most diverse and widely distributed of bat famili ...

native to

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

Taxonomy

The

long-tailed myotis The long-tailed myotis (''Myotis longicaudatus'') is a species of vesper bat found in northern and eastern Asia. Taxonomy Previously thought to be a subspecies of the fraternal myotis (''M. frater''), it was split as a distinct species by a ...

(''M. longicaudatus'') was split as a distinct species by a 2015 study based on molecular evidence. This has also been followed by the

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammals, and professions studying them. There are over 4,500 members of this society, and they are primarily professional scientists ...

, the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

, and the

ITIS The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagenc ...

. Phylogenetic evidence supports the

reddish myotis The reddish myotis (''Myotis soror'') is a species of vesper bat. It is endemic to Taiwan. It was first discovered to science in 2003, and described in a 2015 study of the phylogenetics of ''Myotis'' bats of Taiwan and eastern China. It is thoug ...

(''M. soror'') of Taiwan being the

sister species In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

to ''M. frater''.

Description

An adult fraternal myotis has a body length of about 5 cm, a tail of about 4.5 cm, and a wing span of about 3.8 cm.

Distribution

The species is found throughout China and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

. Bats that could potentially belong to this species have also been collected in

Uttarkhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, but their taxonomy remains unresolved.

Status

There are no major threats to this species, although it may be threatened by

roadkill Roadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by drivers of motor vehicles on highways. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how it can be mi ...

in Taiwan. It may be sensitive to

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

, but this was based on the old classification that included ''M. longicaudatus'' within the species, and thus this remains unconfirmed.

References

;Notes ;Sources * Mouse-eared bats Taxa named by Glover Morrill Allen Mammals of China Mammals of Taiwan Mammals described in 1923 Bats of Asia {{Vespertilionidae-stub