Christie's long-eared bat (''Plecotus christii''), also known as the Egyptian long-eared bat, Christie's big-eared bat, or gray long-eared bat, 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 ...

in the family

Vespertilionidae 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 familie ...

. It is known from

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are subtropical or tropical dry

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

, rocky areas, and hot

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described as a new species in 1838 by

John Edward Gray John Edward Gray (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for a z ...

. Gray named it ''Plecotus christii.'' The specimens that Gray used to describe the species were provided to the

British Museum of Natural History The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

by Turnbull Christie, who is the

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

for the

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

"''christii''". Because Christie was inspiration for the species name, taxonomic resources such as the

Integrated Taxonomic Information System 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 interagenc ...

state that the correct name for this species is ''christiei''. According to the

International Code of Zoological Nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted Convention (norm), convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific name, scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the I ...

, there are few circumstances in which the author's original spelling can be challenged. "Inadvertent errors" may be corrected, according to Article 32.5.1, but "incorrect transliteration or latinization, or use of an inappropriate connecting vowel, are not to be considered inadvertent errors." Because Gray's error was one in latinization, it is unclear if changing the specific epithet is necessary or an unjustified emendation. In 1878,

George Edward Dobson George Edward Dobson Royal Society, FRS Linnean Society of London, FLS Zoological Society of London, FZS (4 September 1848 at Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland – 26 November 1895) was an Irish zoologist, photographer and army surgeon. He ...

published that he considered it

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

with the

brown long-eared bat The brown long-eared bat or common long-eared bat (''Plecotus auritus'') is a small Eurasian insectivorous bat. It has distinctive ears, long and with a distinctive fold. It is extremely similar to the much rarer grey long-eared bat which was ...

, ''Plecotus auritus''.

Description

It has pale, whitish fur with dusky tips. The fur of its stomach is white. Its tragus is half as long as its ear.

Range and habitat

Christies' big-eared bat is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to north-eastern Africa and it is known only from a small number of sites. It has been recorded in eastern Libya, Egypt (including Sinai) and Sudan. Reports of this species in Eritrea may refer to ''

Plecotus balensis The Ethiopian long-eared bat or Ethiopian big-eared bat (''Plecotus balensis'') is a species of long-eared bat in the family Vespertilionidae. Description The Ethiopian long-eared bat is a typical medium-size representative of the genus ''Pleco ...

''. In 1884, English ornithologist

Henry Baker Tristram Henry Baker Tristram FRS (11 May 1822 – 8 March 1906) was an English clergyman, Bible scholar, traveller and ornithologist. As a parson-naturalist he was an early, but short-lived, supporter of Darwinism, attempting to reconcile evolution an ...

described the species as "very common in all the hill-country of Palestine, especially in caves and tombs about Bethlehem and Jerusalem, and by the Sea of Galilee." Researchers who recently surveyed Palestine, however, did not find any sign of the species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2472925 Plecotus Bats of Africa Endemic fauna of Egypt Bat, Christi Mammals described in 1838 Taxa named by John Edward Gray Taxonomy articles created by Polbot