Pipistrellus raceyi

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Pipistrellus raceyi

Data Deficient (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Vespertilionidae
Genus: Pipistrellus
Species:
P. raceyi
Binomial name
Pipistrellus raceyi
Bates, Ratrimomanarivo, Harrison, and Goodman, 2006
Map of Madagascar off the African coast, showing four red dots (2 along the east coast, 2 along the west coast), representing the range of Pipistrellus raceyi.
Distribution of Pipistrellus raceyi[2]

Pipistrellus raceyi, also known as Racey's pipistrelle, is a

Data Deficient" on the IUCN Red List
.

With a forearm length of 28.0 to 31.2 mm (1.10 to 1.23 in), Pipistrellus raceyi is small to medium-sized for a species of Pipistrellus. The body is reddish above and yellow-brown below. The wings are dark and the feet are small. Males have a long penis and

canine
and the second lower premolar is well-developed.

Taxonomy

Since they were first recorded in 1905, when Thomas and Schwann described the species Vespertilio matroka (currently

classification and status of small vespertilionid bats ("pipistrelles") from Madagascar have remained unclear. Although several species were recorded, they remained little known. A species of the genus Pipistrellus with affinities to Oriental (southeastern Asian) species was first recorded in 1995, and several later authors recorded one or more unidentified Pipistrellus species.[3]

In 2006, Paul Bates and colleagues reported on a collection of 44 Malagasy "pipistrelles" received by the

Pteropus rufus and both species of the small insectivorous bat Emballonura recorded on Madagascar.[7]

Description

Pipistrellus raceyi is a small to medium-sized pipistrelle.

metacarpals (hand bones) are about equally long, but the first phalange (finger bone) on the third finger is short.[8] P. endoi has a longer first phalange on the third metacarpal.[9] P. raceyi has short tibiae (lower leg bones) and small feet and the tail is shorter than the head and body.[8] Forearm length is 28.0 to 31.2 mm (1.10 to 1.23 in), tail length is 22.9 to 30.3 mm (0.90 to 1.19 in), hindfoot length is 5.3 to 7.5 mm (0.21 to 0.30 in), and ear length is 7.5 to 10.6 mm (0.30 to 0.42 in) in 13 measured specimens. Females average slightly larger than males.[10]

Males have a long, straight penis with a notch between the shaft and the narrow, egg-shaped glans penis. Near the top, the penis is haired, but the base is almost naked. In the baculum (penis bone), the shaft is long and narrow and slightly curved.[8] The length of the penis and baculum distinguish P. raceyi from all comparably sized African and Malagasy vespertilionids.[11] P. endoi, P. paterculus, and P. abramus have more similar bacula, but that of P. abramus is more curved, the shaft and the tip are more robust in P. paterculus, and the proximal (near) end is more robust in P. endoi.[12] In males, penis length is 9.6 to 11.8 mm (0.38 to 0.46 in) and baculum length is 8.8 to 10.0 mm (0.35 to 0.39 in).[10]

In the skull, there is a well-defined lowered area in the middle of the rostrum (front part), which nearly touches the back margin of the large, V-shaped nasal aperture (opening for the nose). Next to the aperture are two elevated areas, above the

supraoccipital, the backmost part of the skull, is convex. The sides of the concave palate are about parallel.[8]

The

trigonid), and m3 is again smaller.[11]

Distribution, ecology, and behavior

Pipistrellus raceyi is known from four places on Madagascar, all below 80 m (260 ft) altitude, of which two are on the west and two on the east side of the island.

Hypsugo anchietae has also been recorded. The true distribution of P. raceyi is probably larger than that currently known.[16] Nothing is known about the diet, but vespertilionid bats generally eat insects.[17]

There is very limited data on reproduction. Young are probably born near the start of the

polygynous, with groups consisting of a male and multiple females.[16]

Conservation status

The

Data Deficient" because of insufficient knowledge about its abundance and habitat requirements. All four known sites are near forest, but that may be a sampling artifact. Although deforestation may pose a threat, each of the collection sites has some sort of forest protection measures in place.[1]

References

  1. ^ . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ Bates et al., 2006, figure 7
  3. ^ a b Bates et al., 2006, pp. 299–300
  4. ^ Bates et al., 2006, p. 301
  5. ^ Goodman, 2007, p. 13
  6. ^ a b Bates et al., 2006, p. 302
  7. ^ Bates et al., 2006, p. 321
  8. ^ a b c d e f Bates et al., 2006, p. 304
  9. ^ a b Bates et al., 2006, p. 309
  10. ^ a b Bates et al., 2006, table 1
  11. ^ a b Bates et al., 2006, p. 305
  12. ^ Bates et al., 2006, pp. 306–307
  13. ^ Bates et al., 2006, pp. 307, 309
  14. ^ Bates et al., 2006, pp. 302, 304–305; Hill and Harrison, 1987, p. 238
  15. ^ Bates et al., 2006, pp. 309, 311; Goodman, 2007, p. 14
  16. ^ a b Bates et al., 2006, p. 311
  17. ^ Emmons and Feer, 1997, p. 93

Literature cited