The Yemeni mouse-tailed bat (''Rhinopoma hadramauticum'') is an

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

species of bat found in

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. It is only known from one roost, and its population is estimated at 150 individuals.

Taxonomy and etymology

Before 2001, it was believed that only one mouse-tailed bat species was found in Yemen—the lesser mouse-tailed bat, ''Rhinopoma hardwickii''. In 2001, a paper was published that cited the presence of the

small mouse-tailed bat The small mouse-tailed bat (''Rhinopoma muscatellum'') is a species of bat in the Rhinopomatidae family. It is found in Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, and possibly Ethiopia, ranging from the Sistan Basin in Iran well into the Helmand River The ...

, ''R. muscatellum'', in the Hadramaut Province of Yemen. However, an analysis of

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

in 2007 found a "deep genetic gap" between ''R. muscatellum'' in Iran and the individuals identified as ''R. muscatellum'' in Yemen. The

genetic distance Genetic distance is a measure of the genetic divergence between species or between populations within a species, whether the distance measures time from common ancestor or degree of differentiation. Populations with many similar alleles have sma ...

for the two populations was 8–9%. The lineages of the two populations are estimated to have diverged 10 million years ago. The 2007 study concluded that the population discovered in Yemen in 2001 was a distinct

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, ...

within ''R. muscatellum'', but the authors stopped short of describing it as a new species. The Yemeni population of ''R. muscatellum'' was described as a new species in 2009 based on the genetic difference described in the 2007 paper. Its

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 ...

''hadramauticum'' is a

New Latin New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...

derivation of "Hadramaut", which is the place where 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.

Description

It is considered a medium-sized bat for its genus. It has a

nose-leaf A nose-leaf, or leaf nose, is an often large, lance-shaped nose, found in bats of the Phyllostomidae, Hipposideridae The Hipposideridae are a family of bats commonly known as the Old World leaf-nosed bats. While it has often been seen as a su ...

that is trapezoidal in shape. Its tragus is broad and blunt, with two points. The outside edge of each tragus has several emarginations. Fur on the dorsal and ventral surfaces is grayish to grayish-brown in color. Fur around the neck is yellowish-brown, creating the appearance of a collar. The skin of its face, ears, belly, and extremities is pale gray in color. Its wing membranes, fingers, tail, and the tips of its ears are gray. Its forearm is long; its tail is long;

Range and habitat

The only known colony of this species, as of 2007, was in a newly-constructed and uninhabited house in the village of Ash Shahar. The elevation of this roost is above sea level. The habitat around the roost, where the bat presumably forages, consists of arid and

semi-desert A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

climate.

Conservation

It is currently evaluated as

by 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 ...

. It meets the criteria for this designation because it is known from only one site, and its total population is estimated at 150 individuals. Main threats to this species are disturbances to its only known roost site. In the same paper where the species was initially described, the authors stated that it "may rank among the most threatened bat species in the Middle East or even in the World."

References

External links

A photo of this species
{{Taxonbar, from=Q10360339 Bats of Asia Mammals described in 2009