Rhinolophus bocharicus Kastschenko & Akimov 1917

30. Bokhara Horseshoe Bat

Rhinolophus bocharicus

French: Rhinolophe du Boukhara / German: Buchara-Hufeisennase / Spanish: Herradura de Bujarâ

Other common names: Central Asian Horseshoe Bat

Taxonomy. Rhinolophus bocharicus Kastschenko & Akimov, 1917,

Murgab River, Turkmenistan.

Rhinolophus bocharicus is in the ferrumequinum species group based on morphology and genetic evidence and has been variously included as a subspecies of R ferrumequinum or R clivosus. Detailed morphological work concluded that R bocharicus is distinct from both species and that it and R clivosus might have evolved from populations of R ferrumequinum. The name rubiginosus by N. Gubarev in 1941 is included under R ferrumequinum as a synonym instead of a subspecies of R bocharicus. A single specimen attributed to R bocharicus from Iran was actually a misidentifiedjuvenile R ferrumequinum. Monotypic.

Distribution. S Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, W Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, C & W Tajikistan, and N Afghanistan.

Descriptive notes. Head-body c. 38-48 mm, tail 22-32 mm, ear 19- 3-24 mm, hindfoot C. 13 mm, forearm 47- 5-53 mm; weight 9-20 g. Dorsal pelage is pale smoky gray-brown, being darker on shoulders (hairs have whitish bases); venter is whitish gray. There is no orange morph. Males lack axillary tufts. Ears are medium in length. Noseleaf has hastate lancet; connecting process is tall and distinctively rounded in side view; sella is narrow, with concave sides and blunt tip; and horseshoe is comparatively narrow at 5-4-7- 3 mm wide and does not completely cover muzzle. Lower lip has three very indistinct grooves. Baculum is very similar to that of the Greater Horseshoe Bat (AE ferrumequinum) but generally lacks strong protuberances on ventral sides of basal cone, and lancet of shaft is generally longer than in the Greater Horseshoe Bat. Skull is robust (zygomatic width is much larger than mastoid width); nasal swellings are underdeveloped anteriorly but well developed posteriorly; sagittal crest is moderately developed, and frontal depression is deep to very deep; and supraorbital crests are low. P2 is tiny and completely displaced labially or occasionally absent, allowing C1 and P4 to come in contact, and P3 is tiny and displaced labially, so P2 and P4 always touch. Dental formula is 11/2, C 1/1, P 2/3, M 3/3 (x2) = 32 or 11/2, C 1/1, P 1/3, M 3/3 (x2) = 30.

Habitat. Arid mountain foothills.

Food and Feeding. The Bokhara Horseshoe Bat is insectivorous, feeding largely on lepidopterans and occasionally coleopterans and other insects. It forages close to the ground and probably around cluttered with vegetation areas.

Breeding. Births of Bokhara Horseshoe Bats have been recorded in June to earlyJuly.

Activity patterns. The Bokhara Horseshoe Bat is nocturnal, foraging primarily at dusk. There seems to be a migration between winter and summer for some individuals traveling from Central Asia to Afghanistan (north to south). Nevertheless, some individuals remain in the same cave throughout the year in Uzbekistan. Bokhara Horseshoe Bats are known to have day roosts in caves and abandoned mine shafts.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Bokhara Horseshoe Bats roost in colonies of several hundred (up to 600) individuals and rarely in small groups. They have been recorded roosting commonly with Geoffroy’s Myotis ( Myotis emarginatus) and occasionally with Greater Horseshoe Bats and Lesser Myotis (Myotis blythii). Female and male Bokhara Horseshoe Bats segregate into maternal and non-matemal colonies during the breeding season. Males move back to form mixed colonies after young can fly and forage on their own.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. There are no major risks to the Bokhara Horseshoe Bat, but habitat loss and cave destruction and modification might be threats in some regions.

Bibliography. Bailey et al. (2016), Benda & Gaisler (2015), Benda, Aulagnier et al. (2008), Benda, Faizolâhi et al. (2012), Benda, Hanâk & Ôervenÿ (2011), Bobrinski étal. (1944), Csorba étal. (2003), Gubarev (1941), Hanâk (1969), Kastschenko & Akimov (1917), Strelkov (1971), Thomas (1997).