A review of the bacular morphology of some Indian bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera)

Bacular studies play a significant role in the case of bats and other mammals since it is considered an important taxon-specific character, thus helping in species discrimination. Structure of the baculum (os penis) also aids in examining and understanding cryptic diversity in bats. The baculum has been used in taxonomic studies of bats but such studies for Indian bats are few and far between. It was felt necessary to put together a comprehensive document depicting the bacular morphology of bats in India so as to be helpful for future bat studies. The penises of the bats were excised, treated with KOH, and then dyed with alizarin red to extract the bacula. The extracted bacula were measured using an oculometer, photographed, and preserved in glycerol. Of the total of 47 species of bats (belonging to nine families) collected and studied during the past decade, we present the bacular morphology of 44 species from peninsular India, Andaman Islands, and Jammu and Kashmir. Bacular morphology of eight taxa, namely, Eonycteris spelaea, Rhinolophus pusillus, R. lepidus monticola, R. cognatus, Hipposideros cf. grandis, Myotis peytoni, M. horsfieldii dryas, and M. longipes are presented here for the first time from India.