Animalia Temminck 1840
Creators: name: Bates, Paul J. J.
name: Nwe, Tin
name: Bu, Si Si Hla
name: Mie, Khin Mie
name: Swe, Khin Maung
name: Nyo, Nyo
name: Khaing, Aye Aye
name: Aye, Nu Nu
name: Toke, Yin Yin
name: Aung, Naing Naing
name: Thi, Mar Mar
name: Mackie, Iain
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2005
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia

description: Pipistrellus tenuis  Least Pipistrelle  
 Vespertilio tenuis Temminck, 1840: 229; Sumatra (Tate, 1942)   
 New material from Myanmar   
 Rakhine State: Tai-Gyo Village; Ngapa- li Beach; Chan-pyin village; Bout-thi-su Quarter; Kya-ma-thaut (Pearch et al, 2003).   
 Previous records from Myanmar   
 Kachin State: Dalu (Carter, 1943); Sagaing Division: Homalin (Wroughton, 1916 a); Kabaw Valley (Wroughton, 1916 b); Nanyaseik, Phawzaw; Maungkan (Carter, 1943); Shan State: Pyaunggaung (Ryley, 1914). A record from Mandalay Division (Wroughton, 1915 a) was subsequently re- ferred to P. paterculus by Thomas (1915 b).   
Descriptive characters  
This is a very small pipistrelle with a forearm length of 26.4–27.6 mm based on five specimens from Myanmar (Table 4;  
 FA = 25.0– 30.2 mm in Bates and Harrison, 1997, and 30.3 mm in Hendrichsen et al., 2001). The pelage is fine, dense and silky. It is a uniform buff, varying in tone from midto dark brown. The ventral surface is paler, the hair tips are buffy brown and the roots are dark brown. The fifth metacarpal is about equal in length to the third and fourth. The penis is not greatly enlarged. The baculum, with a length of 3.1–3.7 mm, is similar in form to that of P. coromandra (Fig. 1C). The skull is small. The zygomata are thin and without processes. The second incisor (I3) exceeds the height of the secondary cusp of the first incisor (I2) and is about equal in crown area. The upper canine (C1) is bicuspidate. The first upper premolar (P2) is about equal in crown area to that of I2; it is usually situated in the toothrow. The first lower premolar (P2) is about 75% of the crown area and height of the second (P4).   
 Similar species   
 This species is on average the smallest pipistrelle in the region. It can be distin- guished from all other species on the basis of skull size except P. coromandra, with which there is some overlap. The baculum is also indistinguishable from this species. In consequence, it is not possible to dis- criminate with certainty between a larger in- dividual of P. tenuis and a smaller individ- ual of P. coromandra, except where the two occur sympatrically.   
 Ecology   
 In Rakhine State, it was collected in nets set adjacent to a small area of marsh and a shallow brackish lake in heavily disturbed coastal habitats near Nagapali Beach. At Tai-gyo village, it was found roosting in a hut in a small village situated in a palm grove about 100 m from the sea (Pearch et al., 2003). In Kachin State, it was collected at an altitude of 190 m at Dalu, in an area of paddy fields surrounded by rain forest (Carter, 1943). At Homalin, it was found in   
 open ‘deciduous jungle with stretches of kaing grass’ and paddy fields adjacent to the township (Wroughton, 1916 a).
description: Published as part of Bates, Paul J. J., Nwe, Tin, Bu, Si Si Hla, Mie, Khin Mie, Swe, Khin Maung, Nyo, Nyo, Khaing, Aye Aye, Aye, Nu Nu, Toke, Yin Yin, Aung, Naing Naing, Thi, Mar Mar & Mackie, Iain, 2005, A review of the genera Myotis, Ia, Pipistrellus, Hypsugo, and Arielulus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Myanmar (Burma), including three species new to the country, pp. 205-236 in Acta Chiropterologica 7 (2) on pages 225-226, DOI: 10.3161/1733-5329(2005)7[205:AROTGM]2.0.CO;2, http://zenodo.org/record/3942897