73. Alpine Long-eared Bat, Plecotus macrobullaris Kuzjakin, 1965

(IUCN Red List: LC)

Subspecies: P. m. macrobullaris Kuzjakin, 1965 .

Distribution: Rare; confined to wooded mountains in the north and northwest of Damascus (Fig. 80).

Previous records: Jeiroud (Trouessart & Kollmann 1923), Jeiroud, Maalula, Ras Al-Ayn, and Yabroud (Benda et al. 2004b), Yabroud (Juste et al. 2004), Maalula, Yabroud, Ras Al-Ayn, and Mount Hermon (Benda et al. 2006).

Remarks: The occurrence of P. macrobullaris in Syria and Lebanon represent the southernmost extent of the species’ distribution, confined to the high mountain habitats and geographically separated from the rest of the range. However, this population is part of the nominotypical Middle Eastern-Caucasian subspecies.