East Asian free-tailed bat

The East Asian free-tailed bat (Tadarida insignis) was formerly considered a synonym of the European free-tailed bat. Its range includes China, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula.[1]

East Asian free-tailed bat
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Chiroptera
Family:	Molossidae
Genus:	Tadarida
Species:	T. insignis
Binomial name
Tadarida insignis (Blyth, 1862)
Synonyms
Nyctinomus insignis Blyth, 1862 Nyctinomus teniotis insignis (Blyth, 1862) Tadarida teniotis insignis (Blyth, 1862) Nyctinomus cestonii (Savi), 1825

Taxonomy

It was described as a new species in 1862 by English zoologist Edward Blyth. The holotype had been collected by Robert Swinhoe. Blyth placed it in the now-defunct genus Nyctinomus with a binomial of N. insignis.[2] In 1873, George Edward Dobson published that he considered it a synonym of Nyctinomus cestonii,[3] which itself was deemed a synonym of the European free-tailed bat (N. teniotis, now Tadarida teniotis) by Oldfield Thomas.[4]

Description

It has a forearm length of 57–65 mm (2.2–2.6 in).[5]

Biology and ecology

It is known to roost in caves.[5] It has long, narrow wings.[6]

Range and habitat

It is known from several countries in Asia including China, North and South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.[1]

Conservation

As of 2019, it is evaluated as a data deficient species by the IUCN. It meets the criteria for this classification because it is a poorly-studied species; little is known about its biology, ecology, population size and trend, nor threats that it is facing. It is presumably threatened by the destruction of its roosts. Cave roosting habitat is lost due to cave tourism and stone quarrying.[1]

References

1. Fukui, D.; Sano, A. (2019). "Tadarida insignis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T136716A22036641.
2. Blyth, E. (1862). "Report of Curator, Zoological Department, May and June". The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 30: 90.
3. Dobson, G.E. (1873). "On the Asiatic species of Molossi". The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 43: 142–143.
4. Thomas, Oldfield (2009). "On a Collection of' small Mammals made by Mr. F. J. Jackson in Eastern Africa". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 59 (2): 181–187. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1891.tb01735.x.
5. Smith, Andrew T.; Xie, Yan; Hoffmann, Robert S.; Lunde, Darrin; MacKinnon, John; Wilson, Don E.; Wozencraft, W. Chris, eds. (2010). A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-1400834112.
6. Funakoshi, K.; Matsumura, S. (1990). "Ultrasonic Sounds in the Japanese Free-tailed Bat, Tadarida insignis". Journal of the Mammalogical Society of Japan. 14 (2): 149–154.