Kruskop S.V., Yuzefovich A.P., Dang C.H., Zhukova S.S., Hoang T.T., Vuong T.T., Fukui D., Motokawa M., Bui H.T., Nguyen T.S. 2024. Surveys of bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera) in the Tay Con Linh Mountains, Vietnam // Russian J. Theriol. Vol.23. No.2. P.99–113 [in English].
Sergei V. Kruskop [kruskop@zmmu.msu.ru], Zoological Museum, Moscow State University, ul. Bolshaya Nikitskaya 2, Moscow 125009, Russia, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 1, Saint Petersburg 199034, Russia, and Joint Vietnamese-Russian Tropical Research and Technological Centre, Nguyen Van Huyen, Nghia Do, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam; Alexander P. Yuzefovich [yuzefovich2015elf@gmail.com], Biological Faculty of Moscow State University, Leninskiye Gory 1-12, Moscow 119234, Russia, and Joint Vietnamese-Russian Tropical Research and Technological Centre, Nguyen Van Huyen, Nghia Do, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam; Cuong Hung Dang [danghuongcuong@gmail.com], Joint Vietnamese-Russian Tropical Research and Technological Centre, Nguyen Van Huyen, Nghia Do, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam; Svetlana S. Zhukova [claire_nea@mail.ru], Biological Faculty of Moscow State University, Leninskiye Gory 1-12, Moscow 119234, Russia, and Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 1, Saint Petersburg 199034, Russia; Thanh Trung Hoang [hoangtrungthanh@hus.edu.vn], University of Science, Vietnam National University, 334 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi, Vietnam; Vuong Tan Tu [tuvuongtan@gmail.com], Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources and Graduate University of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam; Dai Fukui [fukuidai@uf.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp], The University of Tokyo Hokkaido Forest, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Furano, Hokkaido, Japan;Masaharu Motokawa [motokawa.masaharu.6m@kyoto-u.ac.jp], The Kyoto University Museum, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606–8501, Japan; Bui Tuan Hai [tuanhai@eulipotyphla.com], Institute of Genome Research, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), Hanoi 10072, Vietnam; Nguyen Truong Son [truongsoniebr@gmail.com], Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources and Graduate University of Science and Technology, VAST, Hanoi 10072, Vietnam, and Vietnam National University of Forestry, Xuan Mai, Chuong My, Hanoi, Vietnam.
doi: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.23.2.01
ABSTRACT. The article summarizes the results of two surveys of the bat fauna of the Tay Con Linh mountain range in northern Vietnam (Ha Giang Province) on the border with China. Previously published data on these mountains showed the presence of a rich and unique fauna of rodents and, especially, insectivores, but information about chiropterans for this territory has so far been fragmentary. Surveys carried out in March 2017 and April 2023 at altitudes ranging from 570 to 2300 m asl identified at least 30 bat species from four families. Some of the species found are known in Indochina from isolated records and were first discovered in Ha Giang Province. The bat fauna of Tay Con Linh includes both widespread, ecologically flexible species (e.g., Cynopterus sphinx, Rhinolophus affinis), as well as species of the Indo-Himalayan fauna that penetrate into the territory of Vietnam along mountain ranges (e.g., Mirostrellus joffrei), species which distribution patterns are not clear due to extremely fragmented ranges (e.g., Rhinolophus siamensis, Hipposideros khaokhouayensis, Arielulus cf. circumdatus), and at least one Palearctic species (Myotis altarium). At the same time, due to the absence of karstic caves on the massif, there are no species obligately associated with karst, and petrophilic species are generally few in number. Most of widespread species are confined to low and medium elevations. On the contrary, a number of species (Harpiola isodon, Murina chrysochaetes, M. huttoni, Myotis altarium, Arielulus cf. circumdatus, Mirostrellus joffrei) were found only at altitudes of 1700 m asl and higher. It is noteworthy that these species are also known from the more western provinces of northern Vietnam, which suggests that the Red River (Hong Ha) valley does not play any significant role as an isolating barrier for bats.
KEY WORDS: Chiroptera, new records, zoogeography, North Vietnam, Ha Giang Province, Pteropodidae, Hipposideridae, Rhinolophidae, Vespertilionidae.