The Ethiopian long-eared bat or Ethiopian big-eared bat (''Plecotus balensis'') is a species of

long-eared bat Plecotini is a tribe of bats in the family Vespertilionidae. It contains several genera found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, in Eurasia, North Africa, and North America. Several genera in this tribe are known as big-eared bats or long-eared ...

in the family

Vespertilionidae 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 ...

Description

The Ethiopian long-eared bat is a typical medium-size representative of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Plecotus ''Plecotus'' is a genus of vesper bat, commonly called long-eared bats. They are found throughout Eurasia and northern Africa. Many species in the genus have only been described and recognized in recent years. Species Genus ''Plecotus'' – lon ...

'' ''sensu stricto'' which differs from the widespread

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

species

grey long-eared bat The grey long-eared bat (''Plecotus austriacus'') is a fairly large European bat. It has distinctive ears, long and with a distinctive fold. It hunts above woodland, often by day, and mostly for moths. In captivity, it has also been recorded t ...

by its smaller overall size, having a small head, short snout, dark-brownish fur and an absence of any yellow tinges to the fur.

Distribution

The Ethiopian long-eared bat 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 elsew ...

to the Ethiopian highlands where it is currently only known to occur in the upper belts of the Harenna Forest in the

Bale Mountains National Park Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) is a national park in Ethiopia. The park encompasses an area of approximately in the Bale Mountains and Sanetti Plateau of the Ethiopian Highlands. The park's Afromontane habitats have one of the highest incid ...

and at

Abune Yosef Abuna Yosef (Amharic: አቡነ ዮሴፍ) is a prominent mountain in the Lasta massif of the Ethiopian Highlands. At it is the 6th tallest mountain in Ethiopia and the 19th highest of Africa. It is located in the Semien Wollo Zone of the Amh ...

. There are older poorly documented records which may have been collected in other montane forest areas, including possible records from

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

, although this specimen may prove to refer to the

Christie's long-eared bat Christie's long-eared bat (''Plecotus christii''), also known as the Egyptian long-eared bat, Christie's big-eared bat, or gray long-eared bat, is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is known from North Africa and the Middle ...

''Plecotus christii''.

Habitat

The Ethiopian long-eared bat has only ever been recorded as occurring in humid evergreen montane forest. The type specimen was collected from a forest belt dominated by ''

Schefflera ''Schefflera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae. With an estimated 600–900 species, the genus represents about half of its family. The plants are trees, shrubs or lianas, growing tall, with woody stems, the absence of ...

spp'' and ''

Hagenia ''Hagenia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plant with the sole species ''Hagenia abyssinica'', native to the high-elevation Afromontane regions of central and eastern Africa. It also has a disjunct distribution in the high mountains of East A ...

spp''. These bats have been reported to forage in the more open parts of the forest or at the edges of clearings.

Taxonomy

The Ethiopian long-eared bat was described in 2000 and represents the farthest south that the genus ''Plecotus'' reaches in Africa, to the south of the two widespread

species

brown long-eared bat The brown long-eared bat or common long-eared bat (''Plecotus auritus'') is a small Eurasian insectivorous bat. It has distinctive ears, long and with a distinctive fold. It is extremely similar to the much rarer grey long-eared bat which was on ...

''Plecotis auritus'' and

''Plecotus austriacus'' . It forms a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

with the

Canary long-eared bat The Canary long-eared bat (''Plecotus teneriffae''), also known as the Canary big-eared bat or Tenerife long-eared bat, is a species of vesper bat endemic to the Canary Islands. According to the IUCN, it is vulnerable to the risk of extinction. T ...

''Plecotus teneriffae'' which is clearly monophyletic and represents an ancient lineage within ''Plecotus''. Christi's long-eared bat is its closest congener in a geographical context but there is 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 the Canary long-eared bat ''P.t. gaisleri'' 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 ...

, with populations of the

Mediterranean long-eared bat The Mediterranean long-eared bat (''Plecotus kolombatovici''), also known as Kolombatovic's long-eared bat, is a species of vesper bat ranging from Italy east through the Balkans east to Syria, and south to Jordan. Taxonomy The species was desc ...

''Plecotus kolombatovici'' found between them. There is still a lot of research to be carried out to resolve the phylogenetic relationships in the genus ''Plecotus''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1831720 Plecotus Bats of Africa Endemic fauna of Ethiopia Mammals of Ethiopia Bat, Ethiopian big-eared Vulnerable biota of Africa Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Mammals described in 2000