Indochinese Whiskered Myotis

About this species

Size

Forearm 3–3.5cm

Range

Vietnam and neighbouring parts of southern China and Laos

The Indochinese whiskered myotis is a very small mouse-eared bat with a forearm of 3–3.5 cm. It resembles Sowerby's and Himalayan whiskered myotis externally, but has a proportionally smaller skull. The inner edge of its tragus is curved, its tip bends slightly forward, and the tragus is widest in its lower third. These subtle characters reflect a species once treated as a subspecies within the broader Myotis siligorensis complex (Kruskop et al. 2025).

Osgood described the form in 1932 from Muong Muon in the western mountains of northern Vietnam. Recent work restored it to species rank while reviewing the genetically diverse siligorensis group across Vietnam, Laos and southern China. Its resemblance to several other tiny Myotis makes old sight records difficult to allocate without measurements or genetic evidence. The accessible revision concentrates on taxonomy and identification, so diet, roost use and breeding are not stated here (Kruskop et al. 2025).

Description: Wildlife of Vietnam guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com)