40.

Mount Popa Pipistrelle

Pipistrellus paterculus

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

Other common names: Paternal Pipistrelle

Taxonomy. Pipistrellus paterculus Thomas, 1915,

“Upper Burma [= Myanmar]. Mt. Popa.”

Pipistrellus paterculus has been included as a subspecies or synonym of P. javanicus but is generally recognized as a distinct species based on morphological and genetic data. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

P.p.paterculusThomas,1915—N&NEIndia(JammuandKashmir,Bihar,Assam,Nagaland,andManipur),Myanmar,ELaos,Vietnam,andN&SWCambodia;alsoreportedfromNWThailandbutrequiresconfirmation.

P. p. yunnanensis Wang Yingxiang, 1982 — SW China (Yunnan).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 42-48 mm, tail 31-38 mm, ear 10-13 mm, hindfoot 6-7 mm, forearm 26-34 mm; weight 4:3-5-7 g. The Mount Popa Pipistrelle is very similar to the Javan Pipistrelle ( P. javanicus) and the Japanese Pipistrelle ( P. abramus), distinguished largely by general color, penial structure, and canine shape. Pelage of the Mount Popa Pipistrelle is long, thick, and silky. Dorsum is dark brown (nearly black), with golden brown (or reddish) tipped hairs; venter is paler, with black-based and buffy brown tipped hairs. Ears, face, and membranes are dark brown. Uropatagium stretches from calcar to nearly tail tip (only very tip is free). Baculum is characteristically very large and long (exceeding 9 mm), with long narrow shaft and strongly bifurcated tip that deflects ventrally; it is similar than that of the Japanese Pipistrelle but straighter and thicker. Skull has robust braincase; zygomatic arches are robust, with small dorsal process on each jugal bone; I? is bicuspid, and I’ is unicuspid and exceeds height of secondary cusp of I*; C' lacks secondary cusp unlike other Asiatic Pipustrellus; P? is small and slightly displaced; and lower molars are nyctalodont.

Habitat. Primary and secondary forests in lowland and montane regions, limestone karst regions, and disturbed and urban areas from sea level up to elevations of ¢. 2400 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. In central Myanmar, a subadult Mount Popa Pipistrelle was captured in lateJune.

Activity patterns. The Mount Popa Pipistrelle is nocturnal. Roosts have been recorded in banana and bamboo trees, hollows in trees, holes in tree stumps, roofs of thatched huts, and limestone caves.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. There are currently no major threats affecting the Mount Popa Pipistrelle, but localized deforestation from logging and agricultural expansion might be a future threat.

Bibliography. Bates & Harrison (1997), Bates, Molur & Srinivasulu (2008), Bates, Nwe Tin et al. (2005), Bumrungsri et al. (2006), Corbet & Hill (1992), Francis (2008a), Furey et al. (2012), Hill (1962), Hill & Harrison (1987), Kruskop (2013a), Smith & Xie Yan (2008).