244.

Turkestani Long-eared Bat

Otonycteris leucophaea

French: Oreillard de Severtsov / German: Turkestan-Wistengrof 3ohr / Spanish: Orejudo de Severtsov

Other common names: Eastern Desert Long-eared Bat, Turkestan Long-eared Bat

Taxonomy. Plecotus leucophaeus Severtzov, 1873,

western Tajikistan near Djan-Bulak, between Tashkent and Hodjent (= western promontory of the Kuraminskiy Range) .

Previously included in O. hemprichii (which see). Monotypic.

Distribution. SW Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, NE Iran, SE Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, N Afghanistan, N Pakistan, and NW India.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 73-78 mm, tail 46- 2-65 mm, ear 38-5-39- 8 mm, hindfoot 11-9-12- 4 mm, forearm 56-8-64- 1 mm. See the Desert Long-eared Bat ( O. hemprichii) for differences between the two. Pelage loose and soft, less dense on venter; dorsally grayish brown, ventrally whitish. Face nearly naked and pinkish. Ears yellowish brown, very long and well separated, with smoothly convex inner and outer margins and rounded tip; antitragus very small; tragus long and tapers to blunt tip. Eyes comparatively large for the family. Wings very broad, and membranes thick and leathery, semi-translucent, pale yellowish brown near body, becoming pale grayish brown near middle and whitish near wingtips and edges. Tail moderately long and more or less fully enclosed by uropatagium, which attaches at ankle; calcar reaches less than halfway between ankle and tail tip on uropatagium. Penis as in the Desert Long-eared Bat. Baculum is crescent-shaped, dorso-laterally flattened, and relatively thick. Skull robust, rostrum broad and high; braincase elongated and of medium width; interorbital constriction narrow. Canines large and round in transverse section; P* large and canine-like; M? extremely reduced; lower incisors small, compressed, partly overlapping, and bicuspid; I, has small cusp on lingual side; P, small but within tooth row, separating P, and C; lower molars are myotodont. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 30 and FNa = 48 (Turkmenistan).

Habitat. Dry steppe to desert habitats in submontane and lowland areas up to 2400 m.

Food and Feeding. Feeds on Solifugae, Scorpiones, Araneae, Coleoptera, Blattodea, and Orthoptera . Fecal samples in Iran were dominated by large Coleoptera ( Scarabaeidae, Carabidae) and also included medium to large Orthoptera (crickets), Solifugae, Araneae, and some Hymenoptera (Formicidae) . The species is primarily a groundgleaner.

Breeding. In Turkmenistan, a pregnant female with two embryos was found in June and a volant juvenile in July. Litter size is probably two.

Activity patterns. Nocturnal. Flies slowly, staying within 40-100 cm of ground. It is well adapted to desert habitats, being heterothermic; hibernates during part of the year. Call shape is steep FM sweep with two obvious harmonics; in Kyrgyzstan, lower harmonic had start frequency of c.40 kHz and end frequency of 18 kHz, with maximum energy at c.30-32 kHz.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Females probably roost in small groups in rock crevices; males probably roost alone in similarsites.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. Relatively common throughout much of its distribution, although limited data available. Probably most threatened by roost disturbance and use of pesticides against insects.

Bibliography. Arlettaz et al. (1995), Ashrafi et al. (2016), Benda (2017c), Benda & Gaisler (2015), Benda & Gvozdik (2010), Benda, Faizolahi et al. (2012), Benda, Hank & Cerveny (2011), Horagek (1991), Zima, Volleth, Horéaéek, Cerveny & Macholan (1992).