Kuhl's pipistrelle (''Pipistrellus kuhlii'') 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 familie ...

that occurs in large areas of

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern regions of Europe, region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countrie ...

and

West Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

. It lives in temperate forests, subtropical or tropical dry

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, temperate grassland, rural gardens, and urban areas. It is a rare and infrequent visitor to Britain, usually only detected by sound-recordings.

Taxonomy

Kuhl's pipistrelle was first named in 1817, under the name ''Vespertilio kuhlii'', in a work by Heinrich Kuhl entitled ' ("The bats of Germany"). The

specific epithet 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 ...

was chosen by Johann Natterer, who had collected the first specimens, and commemorates Kuhl; under the rules of the

ICZN The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the I ...

, however, Kuhl himself is regarded as the authority, as the first to report the name. The population of

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

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 ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

was formerly known as ''Pipistrellus deserti''.Benda, P. 2004
Pipistrellus deserti2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Downloaded on 19 July 2007. This taxon is now considered to be a junior synonym of ''Pipistrellus kuhlii''

References

External links

* Pipistrellus Taxa named by Heinrich Kuhl Bats of Africa Bats of Asia Bats of Europe Mammals of North Africa pipistrelle, Kuhls Mammals of Azerbaijan Mammals of Afghanistan Mammals of Pakistan Mammals of Cape Verde Mammals described in 1817 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Vespertilionidae-stub