Hanak's dwarf bat or Hanak's pipistrelle (''Pipistrellus hanaki'') is a species of

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

only found in Cyrenaica,

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

and Crete,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Taxonomy

''Pipistrellus hanaki'' was described as a new species in 2004. Its description was the result of a taxonomic split of the

common pipistrelle The common pipistrelle (''Pipistrellus pipistrellus'') is a small pipistrelle microbat whose very large range extends across most of Europe, North Africa, South Asia, and may extend into Korea. It is one of the most common bat species in the Brit ...

. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

was collected in

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...

, which is in eastern

. The

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

for the

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

"''hanaki''" is Czech Republic scientist Vladimír Hanák, for his significant contribution "to the knowledge of the Palaearctic bat fauna". Hanák was also the first to point out the difference of this taxon from other members of the common pipistrelle species complex.

Range and habitat

In Crete, Hanak's dwarf bat was recorded in mosaics of oak trees (mainly ''Quercus pubescens''), cypresses (''Cupressus sempervirens''), olive trees (''Olea europea''), carob trees (''Ceratonia siliqua'') and to a lesser extend other cultivated trees (including ''Ficus carica'' and ''Prunus spp.'').

Echolocation

This species uses the same range of frequencies as the common pipistrelle, but its specific social calls allow a clear separation from the other pipistrelle species.

Conservation

This species is protected in the European Union under the

Habitats Directive The Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) is a directive adopted by the European Community in 1992 as a response to the Berne Convention. The E ...

, Annex IV. This species is also listed in the

Berne Convention The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, was an international assembly held in 1886 in the Swiss city of Bern by ten European countries with the goal to agree on a set of leg ...

and is specifically targeted by the UNEP- EUROBATS convention.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2127214 Pipistrellus Bats of Europe Mammals described in 2004 Bats of Africa