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Acoustic signals play a crucial role in transmitting information and maintaining social stability in gregarious animals, especially in echolocating bats, which rely primarily on biological sonar for navigating in the dark. In the context of foraging without relying on tactile, visual or olfactory cues, acoustic signals convey information not only on food but also on ownership and defense of resources. However, studies on such information remain fragmentary. In the present study, we aim to document the social vocal repertoire of Myotis macrodactylus at natural foraging sites. Multiple acoustic analyses and spectrographic classification revealed a rich foraging vocal repertoire comprising 6 simple syllables and 2 composites. Discriminant function analyses associated with a subset‐validation procedure provided an optimal method to spectrographically classify all recorded sounds into different syllable types. Multidimensional scaling of median values of multiple parameters further confirmed notable differences among these syllables in a 3‐D space. In addition, Euclidean distance analysis showed that there were some spectral similarities between specific social vocal syllables and feeding buzzes, which implied a potential jamming role. Altogether, the data indicate that bats at foraging sites under natural conditions used variant social vocalizations with different functions in addition to echolocation calls, providing supporting evidence for further work on the function and vocal mechanisms of acoustic communication in mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Myotis is one of the most diverse and widely distributed mammals, providing a good model for studies of speciation and diversification across large geographic scales. However, the classification within this genus has long been chaotic. Taxonomic revisions based on multiple data sources are essential and urgent. In this study, morphometrics and genetic markers with different modes of inheritance were used to clarify the taxonomy of Myotis distributed in China. Based on 173 mitochondrial Cytb sequences and five morphological characteristics, 114 specimens collected nationwide over the past 20 years were assigned to 11 Myotis species. All Chinese samples classified into M. davidii and M. longipes were revised to M. alticraniatus and M. laniger. Then, two nuclear fragments (Rag2 and Chd1) and Cytb sequences from representative individuals of Chinese Myotis were used for multilocus phylogeny reconstruction and genetic divergence evaluation. The phylogenetic relationships were clearly demonstrated in the species tree: M. alticraniatus and M. laniger; M. fimbriatus, M. pilosus, M. macrodactylus, and M. petax; and M. pequinius, M. chinensis, and M. blythii formed three strongly supported monophyletic clades. Mitochondrial divergence was almost 10 times that of nuclear divergence, with interspecific K2P distances ranging from 8% to 20% for Cytb and 0.3% to 2.3% for concatenated nuclear genes. Low levels of genetic divergence were observed between M. alticraniatus and M. laniger, as well as M. fimbriatus and M. pilosus. These results provide new insights into the taxonomy and phylogeny of Myotis bats in China and are important for the future research and conservation of Chinese Myotis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]