On some Mediterranean populations of bats of the Myotis mystacinus morpho-group (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)

New data on the distribution of bats of the Myotis mystacinus morpho-group in certain parts of the Mediterranean region are given and some morphological characters of these populations are analysed and discussed. Statistic comparison (PCA) suggests the distribution of M. mystacinus s. str. in the Balkans, along with M. alcathoe, M. aurascens and M. brandtii. The records of M. brandtii and M. mystacinus s. str. in central Anatolia, Turkey, are reported for the first time. These records suggest a continuous distribution of these species from the Balkans to the Caucasus, while their insulated occurrence in the Caucasus region seems to be unlikely (contra Benda & Tsytsulina 2000). M. aurascens is reported from whole Anatolia and from Syria according to the revised and/or newly collected material. Second and third records of M. aurascens in Italy are reported as well as a verification of a M. brandtii record in Tuscany (after Lanza 1959). The taxonomic status of the Moroccan populations of M. mystacinus s. str. was evaluated and their affiliation to the Iberian subspecies M. m. occidentalis was not confirmed.