Socotran pipistrelle | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Chiroptera |
Family: | Vespertilionidae |
Genus: | Hypsugo |
Species: | H. lanzai |
Binomial name | |
Hypsugo lanzai Benda, Al-Jumaily, Reiter, & Nasher, 2011 | |
Socotran pipistrelle range |
The Socotran pipistrelle or Lanza's pipistrelle (Hypsugo lanzai) is an endangered species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is endemic to Socotra Island in Yemen, and is the only mammal thought to be endemic to the island. [2] [3] [4]
Previously thought to represent an insular population of the desert pipistrelle (H. ariel), a 2011 study found it to be morphologically distinct from other Hypsugo species, and described it as a distinct species. It is named after Italian biologist Benedetto Lanza. [5] It is recognized as a distinct species by the IUCN Red List, American Society of Mammalogists, and ITIS. [1] [2] [6]
It is found only on Socotra, where it is found throughout at all altitudes. It inhabits sparse, dry xeric shrubland habitat. [1]
It is the largest member of the arabicus-group of Hypsugo (also including H. ariel and the Arabian pipistrelle, H. arabicus). Its braincase is higher compared to the other species in the group. It is also much darker in coloration than other members of the group. [5]
This species has a restricted range, being found only on a single island. It is thought to be threatened by climate change, primarily due to more frequent major tropical cyclones (with the 2015 and 2019 cyclone seasons being thought to have been especially damaging), as well as increasing aridification of its habitat. It is also thought to be threatened by increasing unplanned development in the area, which may have further knock-on effects on the already-stressed ecosystem. [1]
Socotra or Soqotra is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the de facto control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen’s ongoing civil war. Lying between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea and near major shipping routes, Socotra is the largest of the four islands in the Socotra archipelago. Since 2013, the archipelago constituted the Socotra Governorate.
Savi's pipistrelle is a species of vesper bat found across North West Africa, the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. It feeds at night on flying insects. In the summer it roosts under bark, in holes in trees, in old buildings and in rock crevices but in winter it prefers roosts where the temperature is more even such as caves, underground vaults and deep rock cracks.
Chalcides lanzai, or Lanza's skink, is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Morocco.
The Arabian pipistrelle is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is found only in Iran and Oman.
The desert pipistrelle is a species of vesper bat in the genus Hypsugo. It is found in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen. Some of the Arabian populations were previously regarded as a separate species, Hypsugo bodenheimeri, but the proposed differences between the two do not hold. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, rocky areas, and hot deserts.
Joffre's bat, also known as Joffre's pipistrelle, is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is the only member of the genus Mirostrellus. It is found in South and Southeast Asia. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The big-eared pipistrelle is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It can be found in Indonesia and Malaysia. It forages over mud flats over Peninsula Malaysia but its roosting activities are unknown. Its habitat is being threatened by deforestation for agriculture, plantations, logging and fires but how it affects this bat or if it is adaptable are unknown.
The genus Hypsugo contains many bats referred to as pipistrelles or pipistrelle bats. They belong to the family Vespertilionidae or vesper bats. They are primarily found throughout Asia, the Middle East, Mediterranean Europe, and North Africa, with a single (debated) species in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Socotra Island xeric shrublands is a terrestrial ecoregion that covers the large island of Socotra and several smaller islands that constitute the Socotra Archipelago. The archipelago is the western Indian Ocean, east of the Horn of Africa and south of the Arabian Peninsula. Politically the archipelago is part of Yemen, and lies south of the Yemeni mainland.
The Isalo serotine is a vespertilionid bat of Madagascar in the genus Laephotis. It is known only from the vicinity of the Isalo National Park in the southwestern part of the island, where it has been caught in riverine habitats. After the first specimen was caught in 1967, it was described as a subspecies of Eptesicus somalicus in 1995. After four more specimens were collected in 2002 and 2003, it was recognized as a separate species. Because of its small distribution and the threat of habitat destruction, it is considered "vulnerable" in the IUCN Red List.
Cissus subaphylla is a low shrub in the grape family Vitaceae. It is endemic to the Yemeni island of Socotra. The plant grows mainly in dry, low-lying areas on alluvial fans or on limestone slopes, and is rarely found above elevations of 300 metres (980 ft), where it is replaced by C. hamaderohensis. It does not have the climbing habit of other Cissus species, and its stems are flattened and gray-green in colour, with relatively small leaves and flowers. The tangled mats of C. subaphylla stems act as a protective covering for plants regularly eaten by goats and other browsing animals; the plant is thus important in the rehabilitation of species such as Dendrosicyos, Maerua and Commiphora.
The Vorderman's pipistrelle is a species of vesper bat found in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. It was described in 1890 by the Dutch zoologist Fredericus Anna Jentink, who named it after its discoverer, the Dutch physician Adolphe Vorderman.
The wildlife of Yemen is substantial and varied. Yemen is a large country in the southern half of the Arabian Peninsula with several geographic regions, each with a diversity of plants and animals adapted to their own particular habitats. As well as high mountains and deserts, there is a coastal plain and long coastline. The country has links with Europe and Asia, and the continent of Africa is close at hand. The flora and fauna have influences from all these regions and the country also serves as a staging post for migratory birds.
Hypsugo alaschanicus, the Alashanian pipistrelle, is a species of bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is found in China, South Korea, Mongolia, Japan, and Russia.
Benedetto Lanza was an Italian herpetologist and chiropterologist. He published over 500 works, with the first one being published in 1946. He described 68 new taxa. He was Professor of Biology and Director of the Natural History Museum at the Università degli Studi di Firenze.
Vespertilionini is a tribe of bats in the family Vespertilionidae. The largest of the tribes in Vespertilioninae, it contains many genera found throughout the Old World and Australasia.
Ward's long-eared bat is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is found in mountainous regions of South Asia and adjoining regions.