The eastern barbastelle or Asian barbastelle (''Barbastella darjelingensis'') 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 famili ...

found throughout much of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Taxonomy

It was described by

Brian Houghton Hodgson Brian Houghton Hodgson (1 February 1800 or more likely 1801 – 23 May 1894) was a pioneer naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British Resident. He described numerous species of birds and mammals from the Hima ...

in 1855, and was previously thought to be a subspecies of the Arabian barbastelle (''B. leucomelas''), with ''B. leucomelas'' being previously known as the eastern or Asian barbastelle when it contained ''B. darjelingensis''. However, a 2008 study, and several later genetic analyses, found ''B. leucomelas'' to be a distinct species from ''B. darjelingensis'', and thus split them both. The American Society of Mammalogists,

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 ...

, and

ITIS The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagen ...

all follow the results of this study. Further genetic studies indicate that ''B. darjelingensis'' itself contains many cryptic lineages that could represent distinct species, but this is disputed due to all most populations having similar morphology to one another. However, the Caspian barbastelle (''B. caspica'') and Japanese barbastelle (''B. pacifica'') are indeed thought to represent distinct species and have been split as such by the ASM and ITIS, with the IUCN also acknowledging them but not yet providing a conservation status. The specific epithet ''darjelingensis'' references the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

town of

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...

, the type locality of this species.

Distribution and habitat

This species has a very wide range across Central, South, and East Asia, ranging from

south throughout the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

and east through China, as far east as

and as far south as

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. There is a single dubious record from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

in southern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Its range is thought to comprise mountainous areas at moderate elevations, where it inhabits montane temperate and subtropical forests. It likely roosts in caves, rock crevices, and tree hollows. It has been recorded foraging over streams.

Status

This species may be threatened by unregulated visits to and destruction of the underground cavities where it roosts, as well as destruction of and use of pesticides in foraging habitat. Populations in South Asia are threatened by deforestation, which has reduced the range and quality of potential habitat for this species. However, it has a wide range with significant portions in sparsely populated regions, so it is not thought to be threatened. However, if the cryptic lineages within this species are found out to represent valid species of their own, they may warrant a higher threat status.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q104249740 Barbastella Bats of Asia Mammals described in 1855 Taxa named by Brian Houghton Hodgson