''Myotis hyrcanicus'' is a

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...

in the genus ''

Myotis The mouse-eared bats or myotises are a diverse and widespread genus (''Myotis'') of bats within the family Vespertilionidae. The noun "''myotis''" itself is a New Latin construction, from the Greek "''muós'' (meaning "mouse") and "''oûs''" (mea ...

'' known only from northeastern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The species was named in 2012 by a team led by Czech biologist Petr Benda. The description was based on a single specimen specimen collected in 2006. Based on

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

evidence, it is most closely related to ''

Myotis alcathoe The Alcathoe bat (''Myotis alcathoe'') is a European bat in the genus ''Myotis''. Known only from Greece and Hungary when it was first described in 2001, its known distribution has since expanded as far as Portugal, England, Sweden, and Russia. I ...

'' from Europe, but the two differ by at least 9.5% in their sequences, indicating that they are different species. The only known specimen was collected in an

alluvial forest A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, sink or reservoir. Etymology The term riparian comes from the Latin word '' ...

at Kordabad in Iran's northeastern Golestan province. 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 The Hyrcanian forests ( fa, جنگل های هیرکانی) are a zone of lush lowland and montane forests covering about adjoining the shores of the Caspian Sea of Iran and part of that of Azerbaijan. The forest is named after the ancient reg ...

ecoregion, perhaps even into

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

. It is a small species, with a forearm length of and ear length of . 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. It shares a relatively narrow skull with ''Myotis alcathoe circassicus'', the Caucasian subspecies of ''M. alcathoe''. However, the last upper

premolar The premolars, also called premolar teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the canine and molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per quadrant in the permanent set of teeth, making eight premolars total in the mouth ...

is relatively large in ''M. hyrcanicus'' and small in ''M. alcathoe circassicus''.

References

{{taxonbar, from=Q99194687 Bats of Asia Endemic fauna of Iran Mouse-eared bats Mammals of West Asia Mammals described in 2012