- Source: List of murinines
Murininae is one of the four subfamilies of Vespertilionidae, itself one of twenty families of bats in the mammalian order Chiroptera and part of the microbat suborder. A member of this subfamily is called a murinine, or a tube-nosed bat. They are found in Asia and Australia, primarily in forests and caves, though some species can also be found in savannas. They range in size from the Da Lat tube-nosed bat, at 3 cm (1 in) plus a 2 cm (1 in) tail, to the lesser hairy-winged bat, at 8 cm (3 in) plus a 5 cm (2 in) tail. Like all bats, murinines are capable of true and sustained flight. They have wing lengths ranging from 2 cm (1 in) to 6 cm (2 in). They are all insectivorous and eat a variety of insects and spiders. Almost no murinines have population estimates, though two—the Da Lat tube-nosed bat and Ryukyu tube-nosed bat—are categorized as endangered species, and two species—the Bala tube-nosed bat and gloomy tube-nosed bat—are categorized as critically endangered.
The 35 extant species of Murininae are divided between three genera: Harpiocephalus with one species, Harpiola with two species, and Murina with the other 32. A few extinct prehistoric murinine species have been discovered, though due to ongoing research and discoveries the exact number and categorization is not fixed.
Conventions
Conservation status codes listed follow the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the murinine's range is provided. Ranges are based on the IUCN Red List for that species unless otherwise noted. Population figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
Classification
Murininae, one of the four subfamilies of the family Vespertilionidae, contains 35 extant species divided into 3 genera.
Subfamily Murininae
Genus Harpiocephalus (lesser hairy-winged bat): one species
Genus Harpiola (tube-nosed bats): two species
Genus Murina (tube-nosed bats): 32 species
Murinines
The following classification is based on the taxonomy described by the reference work Mammal Species of the World (2005), with augmentation by generally accepted proposals made since using molecular phylogenetic analysis, as supported by both the IUCN and the American Society of Mammalogists.