Pipistrellus (Pipistrellus) pygmaeus

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Classis: Mammalia
Subclassis: Theria
Infraclassis: Eutheria
Ordo: Chiroptera
Subordo: Microchiroptera
Superfamilia: Vespertilionoidea
Familia: Vespertilionidae
Subfamilia: Vespertilioninae
Tribus: Pipistrellini
Genus: Pipistrellus
Subgenus: Pipistrellus (Pipistrellus)
Species: Pipistrellus (Pipistrellus) pygmaeus

Name

Pipistrellus (Pipistrellus) pygmaeus Leach, 1825

Type locality: England, Devonshire, Dartmoor.

Synonyms

* Pipistrellus (Pipistrellus) mediterraneus Cabrera, 1904

References

* Leach, 1825. Zool. J., 1: 559.
* Conservation status: IUCN link: Pipistrellus (Pipistrellus) pygmaeus (Not Evaluated)
* Pipistrellus (Pipistrellus) pygmaeus on Mammal Species of the World.
Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (editors). 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed).

Distribution

* British Isles, Scandinavia south to Spain, Portugal, Corsica, Sardinina, Italy, Slovenia, and Greece
* East to Ukaraine and West Russia
* North Algeria, Tunisia, Libya

Vernacular names
English: Soprano Pipistrelle
Español: Murciélago de Cabrera.
Nederlands: Kleine dwergvleermuis

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The Soprano Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) is a small bat that was only formally separated from the Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus in 1999.

The two species were first distinguished on the basis of their different-frequency echo-location calls. The Common Pipistrelle uses a call of 45 kHz, while the Soprano Pipistrelle echo-locates at 55 kHz. The two species are sometimes called the 45 kHz pipistrelle and the 55 kHz pipistrelle, or the bandit pipistrelle (common) and the brown pipistrelle (soprano). Since the two species were split, a number of other differences, in appearance, habitat and food, have also been discovered.

Echolocation

The frequencies used by this bat species for echolocation lie between 53-86 kHz, have most energy at 55 kHz and have an average duration of 5.8 ms. [1][2]

References

1. ^ Parsons, S. and Jones, G. (2000) 'Acoustic identification of twelve species of echolocating bat by discriminant function analysis and artificial neural networks.' J Exp Biol., 203: 2641-2656.
2. ^ Obrist, M.K., Boesch, R. and Flückiger, P.F. (2004) 'Variability in echolocation call design of 26 Swiss bat species: Consequences, limits and options for automated field identification with a synergic pattern recognition approach.' Mammalia., 68 (4): 307-32.