Pipistrellus aero Heller 1912

29.

Mount GarguesPipistrelle

Pipistrellus aero

French: Pipistrelle du Kenya / German: Mount-Gargues-Zwergfledermaus / Spanish: Pipistrela de Kenya

Other common names: Aerial Pipistrelle Bat, Kenya Pipistrelle, Mount Gargues Pipistrelle Bat

Taxonomy. Pipistrellus aero Heller, 1912,

“from summit of Mount Garguez [= Gargues], Mathews Range, altitude 7,000 ft. [= 2134 m], British East Africa [= Kenya].”

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. Recorded from three localities in W & C Ethiopia (Beko River, Yamboshi River, and Chercher Mts) and three localities in W Kenya (Marsabit Lake, Mt Gargues, and Ngong); there is an apparent record from Tana Lake in NW Ethiopia, but it does not seem to represent this species (most likely P. hesperidus hesperidus).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 40-49 mm, tail 32-34 mm, ear 10-15 mm, hindfoot 5-10 mm, forearm 31-34 mm; weight 4-5 g. Pelage of the Mount Gargues Pipistrelle is dense and silky. Dorsum is dark brown, with reddish tinge; venteris slightly paler. Ears are black and relatively short; tragus is about one-third the ear height and narrow, and it has concave anterior margin, smoothly convex posterior margin, and rounded tip. Wings are very dark brown, without white hind border. Uropatagium is very dark brown and extends from well-developed calcar to more or lesstail tip (except extreme tip). Baculum is strongly curved and bifurcated at tip and base. Skull is of moderate size for an African Pipistrellus; braincase is relatively high and moderate in breadth; interorbital region is relatively narrow; rostrum is relatively long and broad; forehead region is moderately concave; upper incisors are conical and unicuspid; I” is less than one-half the height of I?; P* is minute, displaced lingually, and generally not visible above gum; and lower molars are nyctalodont.

Habitat. Montane forest habitats (on Mount Gargues, Kenya) and mosaic of evergreen brushland, secondary Acacia (Fabaceae) wooded grassland (in other localities in Kenya), and Afromontane vegetation (at Marsabit Lake, Kenya) at elevations of 1200-2700 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. Virtually nothing is known on ecology of the Mount Gargues Pipistrelle, and it is known only from a few records in Ethiopia and Kenya. Additional sampling and research are needed to fully assess its conservation status.

Bibliography. ACR (2018), Hayman & Hill (1971), Hill & Harrison (1987), Jacobs et al. (2008e), Lavrenchenko et al. (2004), Van Cakenberghe & Happold (2013e)