223.

Japanese Barbastelle

Barbastella pacifica

French: Barbastelle du Japon / German: Japan-Mopsfledermaus / Spanish: Barbastela de Japon

Taxonomy. Barbastella pacifica Kruskop, Kawai & Tiunov, 2019,

“Kunashir (Kunashiri) Island, Filatova (Ruyabetsu) stream, ca. 1 km from the mouth (Selezneva & Tiunov 2007); N 44.190°, E 146.023°.”

See B. darjelingensis . Monotypic.

Distribution. Kunashir I, Hokkaido, and scattered on Honshu and Shikoku, Japan.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 4761- 6 mm, tail 41-52 mm, ear 12-5—- 19 mm, hindfoot 6-6-10- 2 mm, forearm 39 43 mm. The Japanese Barbastelle is a large species of barbastelle that can be distinguished by its darker pelage (especially ventrally), braincase, mandible, and baculum. Pelage is long, thick, and soft with somewhat wavy underfur hairs; dorsally deep brown shadowed by light brown (less glossy than in the Caspian Barbastelle, B. caspica, and the Arabian Barbastelle, B. leucomelas); ventrally similar to dorsum. Immatures are darker overall. Face is short with large inflations on either side of muzzle, as in other barbastelles. Naked portions of wings, face, and ears dark brown. Ears broadly triangular, thick and rounded at tip, with wrinkled upper mid-anterior margin, wrinkles extending into inner ear; ears connected at thick frontal point, are relatively long, and lack an additional lobe on outer margin (present in the Western Barbastelle, B. barbastellus, and the Beijing Barbastelle, B. beijingensis); tragus long and more or less triangular, with slightly concave posterior margin in upper one-third and convex posterior margin at widest part. Wing attaches to base offirst toe; uropatagium stretches from ankle to tail tip; calcar reaches less than halfway to long tail. Baculum has proportionally wide shaft with widened and very blunt distal tip (wider and more massive than in the Eastern Barbastelle, B. darjelingensis). Skull has moderately high, rounded braincase; frontal portion slightly higher than temporal portion but less so than in the Western Barbastelle, the Arabian Barbastelle, or the Beijing Barbastelle; a shallow depression can often be seen on the level of coronal suture; sagittal crest not developed; lambdoidal crests weak; angular process of mandible shorter and blunter than in the Beijing Barbastelle; facial profile moderately sloped; dental features are generally similar to other barbastelles. Chromosomal complement apparently has 2n = 32 and FN = 50.

Habitat. Probably inhabits temperate mixed and broadleaf forests.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. A female with a single embryo has been observed.

Activity patterns. Nocturnal, foraging through the night and roosting by day. Has been reported roosting in artificial caves, tunnels, and rock crevices. Hibernates through winter.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. The species has a fairly restricted range across Japan, and seems to be relatively rare. Virtually nothing is known of its ecology and threats; further research is certainly needed.

Bibliography. Benda & Mlikovsky (2008), Kruskop (2015), Kruskop et al. (2019), Ohdachi et al. (2015).