During an examination of various specimens previously collected from different locations and times, we discovered seven Murina specimens that had been collected in May 2023 from the Guanyinshan Provincial Nature Reserve, Yuanyang, Yunnan, China. Based on the assessment of morphological characteristics and molecular data analysis, these specimens were determined to represent a previously unidentified species, designated Murina yuanyang sp. nov.

During an examination of various specimens previously collected from different locations at different times, we discovered four Murina specimens that had been collected in October and December 2023 from the Huanglianshan National Nature Reserve, Lvchun, Yunnan, China. Morphologically, these specimens can be distinguished from M. pluvialis and other congeneric species based on a combination of body size, hair distribution, fur colour, and skull and teeth characteristics; molecularly, an analysis of Cyt b and COI gene sequences showed that these specimens form a monophyletic group with M. pluvialis with high posterior probability and bootstrap support values. Furthermore, the genetic distance between our specimens and M. pluvialis was greater than the minimum threshold for interspecific differentiation, indicating that they are phylogenetically close but have diverged. Based on the above assessment of morphological characteristics and molecular data analysis, these specimens were determined to represent a previously unidentified species, designated Murina lvchun Xin Mou & Song Li, sp. nov.

This research documents a new record of Miniopterus magnater in the south-western region of China, a significant discovery given the limited diversity of the Miniopterus genus within the country. Only three species of Miniopterus occur in China: Miniopterus magnater, Miniopterus fuliginosus and Miniopterus pusillus. These species share a high degree of morphological similarity, particularly in their external characteristics. This underscores the necessity for the identification of additional distinguishing traits that can aid in the taxonomic differentiation of these closely-related species. During the 2023 field expedition to various nature reserves in Yunnan Province, China, we encountered specimens of the genus Miniopterus. Utilising a combination of morphological assessments and phylogenetic analyses, we identified six individuals as Miniopterus magnater. A review of the existing geographical distribution data revealed that this species is primarily found in central and southern regions of China, with no previous records from the south-western part of the country. Based on our findings, we present a novel record of Miniopterus magnater's distribution in the south-western region of China.

The genus Chiropodomys currently has six valid species recorded globally, widely distributed in Southeast Asia. No new Chiropodomys species has been described since the 1980s. In this study, a single specimen collected from Wanding, Yunnan Province, China, was analyzed using a combined methodology of morphological comparative analysis and molecular biology. The results show that the specimen is not only distinct from all known species of Chiropodomys in external morphology, but also the genetic distance between it and its close relatives is at least 13.06% (Cyt b ) and 10.40% (COI). Based on these results, it is proved that the specimen represents a new Chiropodomys species: C . wandingensis sp. nov. Furthermore, based on this finding and in conjunction with literature data, a key to the species within the genus was compiled.

Fine-grained recognition of biological morphology remains constrained by subtle structural variation, limited anatomical information from single-view imaging, and inefficient integration of heterogeneous visual evidence. This study developed a multi-view deep learning framework for squirrel skull classification. Multi-view images are utilized as inputs to construct a deep learning framework that converts multi-source perceptual information into highly discriminative feature representations. The architecture integrates multi-view collaborative feature extraction, cross-view dynamic fusion, and fine-grained anatomical region enhancement within an end-to-end recognition pipeline. Specifically, multi-view collaborative encoding preserves view-specific cranial variation, dynamic fusion adaptively weights complementary features across perspectives, and regional enhancement strengthens diagnostic responses from key anatomical structures, thereby improving sensitivity to fine-grained morphological differences. Comprehensive evaluation on a newly constructed multi-view squirrel skull dataset demonstrated that the proposed method significantly outperformed multiple mainstream deep learning models, including ResNet, ViT, and Swin Transformer. The proposed model achieved an Accuracy of 92.37%, Precision of 92.05%, Recall of 91.62%, an F1-score of 91.83%, and a Macro-F1 of 91.24%. Ablation analyses confirmed the contribution of each module, with the full framework increasing accuracy by more than 8 percentage points relative to the single-view baseline. Analysis of input-view number showed a progressive improvement in classification performance as the number of views increased from one to five, confirming that multi-view anatomical information substantially strengthened structural representation. These results indicate that coordinated multi-view feature learning provides a robust and generalizable framework for fine-grained biological classification and morphology-oriented intelligent sensing.

During the examination of archived specimens, we identified morphologically distinct individuals of the genus Murina. These distinct specimens were collected in 2023-2024 from Luchun County (Huanglianshan National Nature Reserve) and in 2019 from Mengla County, Yunnan Province, China. While some of the specimens superficially resemble M. balaensis and M. eleryi, they can be unambiguously distinguished from these species and all other congeners by a suite of external and cranial characteristics. Simultaneously, phylogenetic analyses and genetic distances based on mitochondrial cytochrome b and cytochrome c oxidase I genes also indicate the uniqueness of these specimens. Based on integrative morphological and phylogenetic evidence, we herein describe these specimens as a new species, Murina huanglianensis S. Li & Mou, sp. nov. For another specimen (KIZ20190169), morphological and molecular analyses confirmed its identity as M. annamitica. Since M. annamitica has not been previously recorded in China, it is herein reported as a first country record for China, with a redescription provided.