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Family: Vespertilionidae

Scientific name: Myotis macrodactylus

Common name: Japanese large-footed bat

IUCN status: Least Concern (LC)

MSJ Red list status: R

 

General morphology: Dorsal fur is grayish or blackish brown, ventral fur is paler grayish brown, white hairs are found on the lower abdomen and surface of femur; ears are fairly narrow and long; tragus is long and pointed (Yoshiyuki, 1989). 

 

Diet: Prey mainly on Diptera, Trichoptera, Lepidoptera, and Araneae (Funakoshi & Takeda, 1998).

 

Habitat: Mainly roosts in natural caves, abandoned mines, unused tunnels, and bomb shelters (Sano, 2000).

 

Echolocation calls: FM call structure; FMaxE=53.8 kHz (Hokkaido) (Fukui et al., 2004), FMaxE=60.3 kHz (Wakayama Prefecture) (Fukui et al., 2010), FMaxE=49.1 kHz (Tukono-shima Island) (Funakoshi et al., 2013)

References:

Yoshiyuki, M. (1989). A systematic study of the Japanese Chiroptera. 242pp. National Science Museum: Tokyo.

Funakoshi, K., & Takeda, Y. (1998). Food habits of sympatric insectivorous bats in southern Kyushu, Japan. Mammal study, 23, 49-62.

Sano, A. (2000). Distribution of four cave-dwelling bat species in Ishikawa Prefecture, with reference to the utilization of roosts. Mammalian Science, 40(2), 167-173.

Fukui, D., Agetsuma, N., & Hill, D. A. (2004). Acoustic identification of eight species of bat (Mammalia: Chiroptera) inhabiting forests of southern Hokkaido, Japan: potential for conservation monitoring. Zoological Science, 21(9), 947-955.

Fukui, D., Agetsuma, N., Hill, D. A., & Harada, M. (2010). Bats in the Wakayama Experimental Forest, Hokkaido University. Research Bulletin of the Hokkaido University Forests, 67(1), 13-23.

Funakoshi, K., Kitanokuchi, T.,  Tanaka, H.,  Ohtubo, S.,  Ohhira, R., & Uchihara, M. (2013). Ecology of Ryukyu tube-nosed bat, Murina ryukyuana, on Tokunoshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Nature of Kagoshima, 39, 1-6.

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