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Gaisler's Long-eared Bat | Plecotus gaisleri
Plecotus gaisleri | Plecotus gaisleri
Gaisler's Long-eared Bat is the long-eared bat of the Mediterranean zone of North Africa, from Morocco to north-eastern Libya, and of the islands of Malta, Gozo and Pantelleria. Benda, Kiefer, Hanák and Veith described it in 2004 as a subspecies of P. teneriffae from the Wadi Al Kuf in Cyrenaica; the Mammal Diversity Database lists it as a species. Forearm 37.2 to 40.9 mm, weight 5 to 8 grams. Externally it cannot be told from its closest relatives.
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Tracks
Single bats roost in rock crevices, caves, cellars, ruins and fissures in arches; small maternity colonies have been found in cave entrances. In the mating season males roost in small groups in caves; swarming sites have not been described. Because the bats carry large prey to a fixed perch and eat only the soft parts there, wings and hard parts of insects accumulate beneath such a perch. On a bat detector the call is faint and can be traced only to genus.
Identification
A medium-sized long-eared bat with ears of 33 to 40 mm and a tragus of about 17 mm. The dorsal fur is usually dark brown, sometimes hazelnut brown or dark umber, with hairs 7 to 8 mm long; the underparts are pale brown or yellowish. Bats from the Maghreb are usually paler than those from Cyrenaica. Face, wing membranes, ears and tragus are dark brown to dark grey-brown. The muzzle is narrow, as in the Grey Long-eared Bat, and the glands around the mouth are small. The penis is club-shaped. Chromosomes 2n = 32. Echolocation consists of faint, strongly modulated pulses with maximum energy at about 28 to 30 kHz and usually a clear second harmonic at 50 to 60 kHz. According to the handbook the species can be separated from its closest relatives only by skull and baculum measurements, and not by external characters.
Similar species
The closest relatives are the Canary Long-eared Bat (P. teneriffae) of the Canary Islands and Kolombatovic's Long-eared Bat (P. kolombatovici) of the eastern Mediterranean; the North African populations have been placed successively in P. auritus, P. austriacus, P. teneriffae and P. kolombatovici. It shares with these species the club-shaped penis and the dark, narrow muzzle of the Grey Long-eared Bat (P. austriacus). Under the current classification P. gaisleri is the only long-eared bat in the Maghreb and Cyrenaica. On Malta, Gozo and Pantelleria, where the Grey Long-eared Bat used to be listed, and on Sicily, where it does occur, the species can only be separated by DNA or by skull and baculum measurements. Further east, in Egypt, lives Christie's Long-eared Bat (P. christii), which is paler, with an almost naked, pale face, translucent ears and a shorter thumb (5.5–5.6 mm). The call separates long-eared bats from other genera but not from each other.
Habitat
Because of recent taxonomic changes the habitat is poorly known. The species has been found from sea level to 2600 m in the High Atlas, but occurs mainly in barren savanna, desert and semi-desert, usually near watercourses and oases, and in the Mediterranean zone along the coast. In Tunisia it selected open habitats such as permanent water partly surrounded by acacias near buildings. Roosts are in rock, caves and buildings.
Where the animal is most at home, classified with EUNIS — the European standard for habitats.
Distribution
The Mediterranean zone of North Africa from Morocco east to northern Libya (Cyrenaica), from the northern edge of the Sahara to the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. In 2020 the species was identified by DNA on Pantelleria, Malta and Gozo, the first confirmed records in Europe. The populations of Cyrenaica and the Maghreb differ genetically; the Maghreb population appears to be a separate taxon but has not yet been formally described. The species is treated as monotypic.
- Native
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
Way of life
The diet consists of moths, flies and small beetles, with a preference for moths. The species hunts close to vegetation: it waits on an isolated branch and makes short flights to catch insects in flight or from a surface, then returns to the perch to eat the prey, dropping wings and hard parts. It has also been seen hunting near lamps and in courtyards. Hibernation takes place in caves; in Tunisia the species has been recorded in every month of the year. There are no data on the annual cycle elsewhere, movements or longevity.
Where and when to look
In North Africa cave entrances, ruins and cellars near oases and watercourses are the places to look for long-eared bats. On Malta, Gozo and Pantelleria any long-eared bat can provisionally be treated as P. gaisleri, but only DNA excludes other species. Record the locality precisely: because of the taxonomic changes, every well-documented record adds to the distribution map.
Conservation status
Not Evaluated (NE) on the global Red List: because of the recent taxonomic changes the species has not yet been assessed separately. According to the handbook it is probably fairly widespread, but quantitative data are lacking; threats are unknown. The authors of the European records recommend including the species in European faunal lists and conservation policy. On Malta, as a bat, it falls under Annex IV of the Habitats Directive.
Scientific name
Plecotus gaisleri | Benda, Kiefer, Hanák, & Veith, 2004
Benda, Kiefer, Hanák, & Veith described the species in 2004 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. Plecotus is Greek, from plekein, 'to plait, twist together', and ous, genitive ōtos, 'ear', after the huge ears joined across the forehead. gaisleri honours the Czech bat specialist Jiří Gaisler, whose work did most to build up the knowledge of North Africa's bats. The specimen the first description was based on came from Libya, Cyrenaica.