The Isalo serotine (''Laephotis malagasyensis'') is a

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 familie ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

in the genus ''

Laephotis ''Laephotis'' (known as the African long-eared bat) is a genus of bats in the family Vespertilionidae. Species within this genus are: * Angolan long-eared bat (''Laephotis angolensis'') * Botswanan long-eared bat (''Laephotis botswanae'') * Cape ...

''. It is known only from the vicinity of the

Isalo National Park Isalo National Park is a National Park in the Ihorombe Region of Madagascar, in the southwestern corner of the Province of Fianarantsoa. The closest town is Ranohira, and the closest cities are Toliara and Ihosy. It is a sandstone landscape that ...

in the southwestern part of the island, where it has been caught in riverine habitats. After the first specimen was caught in 1967, it was described as a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of ''Eptesicus somalicus'' (now '' Neoromicia somalica'') in 1995. After four more specimens were collected in 2002 and 2003, it was recognized as a separate species. Because of its small distribution and the threat of

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, it is considered " vulnerable" in the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

. ''Laephotis malagasyensis'' is a relatively small species, with a forearm length of 30 to 32 mm (1.2 to 1.3 in) and a body mass of 3.9 to 9 g (0.1 to 0.3 oz). The fur is dark brown above and mixed buff and gray below. The ears are translucent and the

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

is short. 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 ...

(penis bone) resembles that of '' N. melckorum'', but is smaller. The duration of the echolocation call, which consists of a component with rapidly falling frequency and one showing more stable frequency, averages 4.9 ms and the interval between calls averages 69.1 ms.

Taxonomy

In their 1995 review of Malagasy bats, Randolph Peterson and colleagues established ''Eptesicus somalicus malagasyensis'', a new

of ''Eptesicus somalicus''Peterson et al., 1995, p. 100 (currently '' Neoromicia somalica''). They had only a single specimen and noted that further material was needed to assess the new form's relationship with ''E. somalicus''.Peterson et al., 1995, p. 101 Studies in 2001 and 2002 provided evidence that ''E. somalicus'' and related species are not closely related to ''Eptesicus'' (nor to ''

Pipistrellus ''Pipistrellus'' is a genus of bats in the family Vespertilionidae and subfamily Vespertilioninae. The name of the genus is derived from the Italian language, Italian word , meaning "bat" (from Latin "bird of evening, bat"). The size of the ge ...

'', where they have also been placed), so that these species were allocated to the separate genus ''

Neoromicia ''Neoromicia'' is a genus of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It contains the following species: * Anchieta's serotine (''Neoromicia anchietae'') * Kirindy serotine (''Neoromicia bemainty'') * Yellow serotine (''Neoromicia flavescens ...

''.Goodman and Ranivo, 2004, p. 434 In 2004, Steven Goodman and Julie Ranivo reviewed the Malagasy subspecies after collecting two more specimensGoodman and Ranivo, 2004, p. 435 and concluded that it was distinct enough to be classified as a separate species, ''Neoromicia malagasyensis''.Goodman and Ranivo, 2004, p. 438 Two years later, Paul Bates and colleagues reported on two more specimens and showed that the

bacula Bacula is an open-source, enterprise-level computer backup system for heterogeneous networks. It is designed to automate backup tasks that had often required intervention from a systems administrator or computer operator. Bacula supports Lin ...

(penis bones) of ''N. malagasyensis'' and ''N. somalica'' are different, providing further evidence that they are distinct species. However, they recommended that further research assess the degree of difference between ''N. malagasyensis'' and '' N. matroka'' (formerly in ''Eptesicus'', but placed in ''Neoromicia'' by Bates and colleagues, and later placed in ''Laephotis''), which occurs further east in Madagascar.Bates et al., 2006, p. 315 The

currently again classifies the species in ''Eptesicus'', as ''Eptesicus malagasyensis''. In 2020, a phylogenetic analysis found it to belong to ''

'' as opposed to ''Neoromicia'', and classified it as such. ''Laephotis malagasyensis'' is one of at least six species of small

vespertilionid 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 familie ...

bats ("pipistrelles") on Madagascar, in addition to ''L. matroka'', '' L. robertsi'', '' Pipistrellus hesperidus'', '' P. raceyi'', and '' Nycticeinops anchietae''. The classification of these bats has historically been controversial, leading to many changing identifications and generic assignments. The genus ''Laephotis'' is exclusively African and included 4 species in the 2005 third edition of ''Mammal Species of the World''; more species, like ''L. malagasyensis'' and ''L. matroka'', have been added since.

Common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s proposed for this species include "Isalo Serotine" and "Peterson's 'pipistrelle.

Description

''Laephotis malagasyensis'' is a relatively small "pipistrelle",Bates et al., 2006, p. 313 but larger than ''Neoromicia somalica''.Goodman and Ranivo, 2004, p. 436 The fur on the back is long and dark brown and the underparts contain both gray and dark

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...

hairs; there, the fur becomes lighter towards the tail. The fur is darker than in ''N. somalica'', but paler than in ''L. matroka''.Bates et al., 2006, p. 321 The brown ears are translucent. The tragus (a projection on the inner side of the outer ear) is similar to that of ''N. somalica'', but may be a little narrower. Relative to the two other Malagasy ''Laephotis'' species, the

is short. A single

(penis bone), 2.2 mm long, has been studied. It resembles the baculum of ''L. robertsi'', but is smaller. As in ''L. matroka'', the distal (far) end is flat and displaced downwards, but the ''L. malagasyensis'' baculum has a smaller area and less well-developed flanges at the sides and a smaller vertical extension of the bone. The skull is somewhat smaller than that of ''L. matroka'' and the

braincase In human anatomy, the neurocranium, also known as the braincase, brainpan, or brain-pan is the upper and back part of the skull, which forms a protective case around the brain. In the human skull, the neurocranium includes the calvaria or skul ...

and

palate The palate () is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly sepa ...

are narrower. Compared to ''N. somalica'', the skull is broader. The ridge on the

lacrimal bone The lacrimal bone is a small and fragile bone of the facial skeleton; it is roughly the size of the little fingernail. It is situated at the front part of the medial wall of the orbit. It has two surfaces and four borders. Several bony landmarks of ...

is better developed, the palate is broader, the

frontal bone The frontal bone is a bone in the human skull. The bone consists of two portions.''Gray's Anatomy'' (1918) These are the vertically oriented squamous part, and the horizontally oriented orbital part, making up the bony part of the forehead, par ...

s contain a depression and are swollen at the sides, the

mastoid bone The mastoid part of the temporal bone is the posterior (back) part of the temporal bone, one of the bones of the skull. Its rough surface gives attachment to various muscles (via tendons) and it has openings for blood vessels. From its borders, ...

s are smaller, and the coronoid and angular processes of the

mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...

(lower jaw) are more prominent.Goodman and Ranivo, 2004, p. 438 The echolocation call of this species was reported in a 2007 study that consists of a component with rapidly falling frequency followed by one with more slowly changing frequency. The call takes 3.6 to 6.3 ms, averaging 4.9 ms, and the period between two calls is 34.2 to 94.4 ms, averaging 69.1 ms. The maximum frequency averages 79.8 kHz, the minimum frequency averages 40.5 kHz, and the call emits the most energy at a frequency of 45.7 kHz.

Distribution and ecology

''Laephotis malagasyensis'' is known only from the vicinity of

, an area of about 2000 km² (800 sq mi), in interior southwestern Madagascar. 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 caught in 1967 in a mistnet set in a row of palms along a river in dry savannah habitat. Peterson and colleagues reported that it had been collected near the village of Marinday, but Goodman and Ranivo suggested that it may instead have come from near

Ilakaka Ilakaka is a small town in Ihorombe Region in the south western part of Madagascar. In the early 1990s there were only about 40 residents in the area. After the discovery of one of Earth's largest known alluvial sapphire deposits in the valley of ...

. Two specimens, a male and a female, were collected at different localities in Isalo National Park in early December 2002, both in mistnets near rivers. The male had enlarged

testes A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testoster ...

and the female had recently stopped lactating and had large

mammae A mammary gland is an exocrine gland in humans and other mammals that produces milk to feed young offspring. Mammals get their name from the Latin word ''mamma'', "breast". The mammary glands are arranged in organs such as the breasts in primat ...

. Two others followed in 2003, also from the national park, and caught in woodland near rivers. A 2009 study on echolocation described the call of six individuals of ''L. malagasyensis'' from an unspecified site within the national park.Kofoky et al., 2009, p. 382 In view of its small known range and the threat of

, the

assesses the species as " vulnerable"; further research is recommended on its roosting and dietary habits.

Notes

References

Literature cited

*Andriafidison, D., Cardiff, S.G., Goodman, S.M., Hutson, A.M., Jenkins, R.K.B., Kofoky, A.F., Racey, P.A., Ranivo, J., Ratrimomanarivo, F.H. and Razafimanahaka, H.J. 2008. . In IUCN. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2.
www.iucnredlist.org
. Downloaded on July 4, 2010. *Bates, P.J.J., Ratrimomanarivo, F.H., Harrison, D.L. and Goodman, S.M. 2006
A description of a new species of ''Pipistrellus'' (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Madagascar with a review of related Vespertilioninae from the island
(subscription required). Acta Chiropterologica 8(2):299–324. *Goodman, S.M. and Ranivo, J. 2004. The taxonomic status of ''Neoromicia somalicus malagasyensis''. Mammalian Biology 69(6):434–438. *Kofoky, A.F., Randrianandrianina, F., Russ, J., Raharinantenaina, I., Cardiff, S.G., Jenkins, R.K.B. and Racey, P.A. 2009
Forest bats of Madagascar: results of acoustic surveys
(subscription required). Acta Chiropterologica 11(2):375–392. *Peterson, R.L., Eger, J.L. and Mitchell, L. 1995. Chiroptères. Faune de Madagascar 84:1–204 (in French). *Ricucci, M. and Lanza, B. 2008
''Neoromicia'' Roberts, 1926 (Mammalia Vespertilionidae): correction of gender and etymology
Hystrix Italian Journal of Mammalogy 19(2):175–177. *Simmons, N.B. 2005. Order Chiroptera. Pp. 312–529 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.)
Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference
3rd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp. {{Good article Laephotis Bats of Africa Endemic fauna of Madagascar