35.

Sturdee’s Pipistrelle

Pipistrellus sturdeei

French: Pipistrelle de Sturdee / German: Sturdee-Zwergfledermaus / Spanish: Pipistrela de Sturdee

Other common names: Bonin Pipistrelle

Taxonomy. Pipistrellus sturdeei Thomas, 1915,

“Hillsborough Island [= Hahajima],” Bonin Islands, Japan.

Taxonomic affinities of P. sturdeei are currently uncertain because it is known only from a single specimen with uncertainty as to where the type specimen is from and thus where the species might still occur. Monotypic.

Distribution. Hahajima, Bonin Is, Japan.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 37 mm,tail 31 mm, ear 7-7 mm, forearm 30 mm (type specimen). Sturdee’s Pipistrelle is currently known only from the female holotype. Pelage is blackish throughout, and wings are dark brown. Ears are comparatively shorter and rounder than in the Japanese Pipistrelle ( P. abramus), inner margin being rounded at base but not prominently convex, and tips are broadly rounded; tragusis similar to that of the Japanese Pipistrelle but shorter with its broadest point being opposite to lower one-third ofits inner margin. Uropatagium extends to just before tail tip as in other Pipistrellus; postcalcarial lobe is narrow. Skull is narrow and delicate; incisors are short, and both upper incisors are bicuspid; I is higher than second cusp of I’; and C' and P* are widely spaced.

Habitat. No information.

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. Sturdee’s Pipistrelle is currently known only from a single specimen collected at the end of the 19 century. It was listed as Extinct in 1996 and 2004 butlisted as Data Deficient in 2006 and 2008 because there is uncertainty regarding where the species might still occur.

Bibliography. Abe et al. (2005), Hill & Harrison (1987), Maeda (2008b), Ohdachi etal. (2009), Yoshiyuki (1989).