Sturdee's pipistrelle (''Pipistrellus sturdeei''), also known as the Bonin pipistrelle bat, is a bat that was thought to have lived in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

before officially becoming extinct in 2000. In 2020, the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

changed its official status to "extinct". ''Pipistrellus studeei'' was thought to have existed solely on

Haha-jima , native_name_link = , image_caption = Map of the Hahajima Rettō (Imōtojima is mislabeled as Tori-shima) , image_size = , pushpin_map = Japan complete , pushpin_label = Hahajima , pushpin_label_position = , pushp ...

Island in the

Bonin Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic readi ...

, Japan, where the only known specimen was discovered. More recent scholarship, though, places doubt on the single specimen's origin and taxonomy. The previous population of this animal is unknown because only one specimen has been preserved, which is currently housed in the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

. No record of Sturdee's pipistrelle has been observed over the last 100 years.

References

Pipistrellus Mammals described in 1915 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Bats of Asia Endemic fauna of Japan Mammals of Japan Natural history of the Bonin Islands Extinct animals of Japan Species known from a single specimen {{Vespertilionidae-stub Mammal extinctions since 1500