Pipistrellus dhofarensis Benda, Reiter, Uhrin & Varadinova 2016

32.

Dhofar Pipistrelle

Pipistrellus dhofarensis

French: Pipistrelle du Dhofar / German: Dhofar-Zwergfledermaus / Spanish: Pipistrela de Dhofar

Taxonomy. Benda et al., 2016,

“ Sultanate of Oman, Dhofar Province, Ain Tabruq spring; 17°06’N, 54°20° E, 115m a.s.l.”

Genetic data place P. dhofarensis close to P. abramus, P. javanicus, and P. coromandra in Asia rather than western Pipistrellus that are closer geographically. Monotypic.

Distribution. From Hawf in SE Yemen to Mirbat in SW Oman.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 46-57 mm, tail 31-42 mm, ear 13-15-3 mm, forearm 33-5-38-4 mm. Dorsum of the Dhofar Pipistrelle has two basic color morphs, grayish brown with slight silvery tinge or reddish brown; venter is markedly paler than dorsum but broadly matches its color scheme. Ears are short, massive, leathery, and nearly triangular in shape, with bluntly rounded tips; tragus is short and broad, curved anteriorly, and 4-8-6-6 mm long. Wing membranes, ears, and face are dark grayish brown, and membranes along bones are slightly paler. Proximal part of uropatagium is covered by sparse hairs in some individuals but bald in others. Glans penis has very distinct medial stripe on dorsalside of foreskin and is covered by very pale hairs. Baculum is long and narrow, being round in central part, with relatively short bifurcations at tip and base, and is straight or slightly curved dorsally on distal one-third ofits length. Skull is robust, and dorsal profile is only slightly convex in frontal region; low sagittal crest is present in some specimens but is not well developed; rostrum is high, long, and broad, both relatively and absolutely; braincase is broad and very high; zygomatic arches are very narrow and fine; both upper incisors are bicuspid; I’ is relatively high; P? is small and displaced from tooth row; C' and P* do not touch but come very close; and lower molars are nyctalodont.

Habitat. Humid savanna habitats at elevations of 59-735 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Call recordings of the Dhofar Pipistrelle had peak frequencies of 37-8-48-6 kHz (mean 42-9 kHz), start frequencies of 46-8-76-7 kHz, end frequencies of 36-1-46-2 kHz, and durations of 2:9-9-6 milliseconds.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. The Dhofar Pipistrelle was only recently described and is currently known only from a small distribution and few specimens.

Bibliography. Benda, Reiter et al. (2016).