Endo's pipistrelle (''Pipistrellus endoi'') is a species of

vesper bat Vespertilionidae is a family of microbats, of the order Chiroptera, flying, insect-eating mammals variously described as the common, vesper, or simple nosed bats. The vespertilionid family is the most diverse and widely distributed of bat famili ...

that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to Japan. It is found in temperate forests.

Etymology

This species was described by Japanese zoologist

Yoshinori Imaizumi was a Japanese zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, c ...

in 1959. He named it ''endoi'' after Kimio Endo, saying that Endo was deserving of the honor because he had "recently collected several important specimens of bats in

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectu ...

, including the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

of this species."Beolens, B., Watkins, M., & Grayson, M. (2009). The eponym dictionary of mammals. JHU Press.

Description

It is similar in appearance to the Japanese house bat.KAWAI, K., ECHENIQUE-DÍAZ, L. M., TAKAHASHI, O., & SAITO, C. (2015)
Insights into the Natural History of Pipistrellus endoi Imaizumi, 1959 from Survey Records in Miyagi Prefecture
宮城教育大学環境教育研究紀要, 17, 53-57. The

baculum The baculum (also penis bone, penile bone, or ''os penis'', ''os genitale'' or ''os priapi'') is a bone found in the penis of many placental mammals. It is absent from the human penis, but present in the penises of some primates, such as the ...

, however, is different. Its baculum is short and relatively straight, measuring .Imaizumi, Y., 1959: A new bat of the Pipistrellus javanicus group from Japan. Bulletin of the National Science Museum Tokyo, no. 45: 363-371 They weigh . Their forearms are long.

Biology

This species has a

sperm storage Female sperm storage is a biological process and often a type of sexual selection in which sperm cells transferred to a female during mating are temporarily retained within a specific part of the reproductive tract before the oocyte, or egg, is f ...

mechanism, in which the females retains sperm in the isthmus of uterine tube after

mating In biology, mating is the pairing of either opposite- sex or hermaphroditic organisms for the purposes of sexual reproduction. ''Fertilization'' is the fusion of two gametes. '' Copulation'' is the union of the sex organs of two sexually rep ...

. All sperm not stored in the isthmus is rapidly metabolized by the enzymatic secretions of uterine

epithelial cells Epithelium or epithelial tissue is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. It is a thin, continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with a little intercellu ...

. This species mates in

autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( S ...

.Son, S. W., MORI, T., YOON, M. H., & UCHIDA, T. A. (1988)
Reproduction of two rare Pipistrellus species, with special attention to the fate of spermatozoa in their female genital tracts
Journal of the Mammalogical Society of Japan, 13(2), 77-91. Females give birth in the summer. The average litter size is unknown, but twins have been observed. Hibernating individuals have been encountered

hibernating Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most ...

November through March. Rock crevices appear to be important habitat for hibernation.

Range and habitat

Of the bats that have been captured, most have been in the forest, creating the impression that it was totally dependent on forest for necessary habitat.Kawai, K. 2009. Pipistrellus endoi Imaizumi, 1959. In: The Wild Mammals of Japan. Ohdachi, S.D., Ishibashi, Y., Iwasa, M.A. and Saitoh,T.(eds.). Shoukadoh, Kyoto, pp. 81–82 However, in 2006, an individual was found in a secondary forest in suburban Tokyo.Kasahi, T., Urano, M., Ando, K. and Takamizu, Y. 2006. Spring roosts of the Endo's pipistrelle, Pipistrellus endoi, in Okutama region, central Japan. Animate, 6, 12–26.(in Japanese) They have been found above sea level.

Conservation

It is listed as near-threatened by the IUCN. This designation is based on it meeting the following criteria: ongoing decline in the extent and quality of its habitat, population decline estimated at 20–30% from 2019 to 2034, and the fact that it is naturally uncommon.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q558025 Pipistrellus Mammals described in 1959 Bats of Asia Endemic fauna of Japan Mammals of Japan Endangered animals Endangered biota of Asia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot