The Yemeni mouse-tailed bat (''Rhinopoma hadramauticum'') is an

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

species of bat found in

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. It is only known from one roost, and its population is estimated at 150 individuals.

Taxonomy and etymology

Before 2001, it was believed that only one mouse-tailed bat species was found in Yemen—the lesser mouse-tailed bat, ''Rhinopoma hardwickii''. In 2001, a paper was published that cited the presence of the

small mouse-tailed bat The small mouse-tailed bat (''Rhinopoma muscatellum'') is a species of bat in the Rhinopomatidae family. It is found in Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, and possibly Ethiopia, ranging from the Sistan Basin in Iran well into the Helmand River The H ...

, ''R. muscatellum'', in the Hadramaut Province of Yemen. However, an analysis of

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the D ...

in 2007 found a "deep genetic gap" between ''R. muscatellum'' in Iran and the individuals identified as ''R. muscatellum'' in Yemen. The

genetic distance Genetic distance is a measure of the genetics, genetic divergence between species or between population#Genetics, populations within a species, whether the distance measures time from common ancestor or degree of differentiation. Populations with ...

for the two populations was 8–9%. The lineages of the two populations are estimated to have diverged 10 million years ago. The 2007 study concluded that the population discovered in Yemen in 2001 was a distinct

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

within ''R. muscatellum'', but the authors stopped short of describing it as a new species. The Yemeni population of ''R. muscatellum'' was described as a new species in 2009 based on the genetic difference described in the 2007 paper. Its

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 ...

''hadramauticum'' is a

Neo-Latin Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...

derivation of "Hadramaut", which is the place where the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

was collected.

Description

It is considered a medium-sized bat for its genus. It has a

nose-leaf A nose-leaf, or leaf nose, is an often large, lance-shaped nose, found in bats of the Phyllostomidae, Hipposideridae, and Rhinolophidae families. Because these bats Animal echolocation, echolocate nasally, this nose-leaf is thought to serve a role ...

that is trapezoidal in shape. Its tragus is broad and blunt, with two points. The outside edge of each tragus has several emarginations. Fur on the dorsal and ventral surfaces is grayish to grayish-brown in color. Fur around the neck is yellowish-brown, creating the appearance of a collar. The skin of its face, ears, belly, and extremities is pale gray in color. Its wing membranes, fingers, tail, and the tips of its ears are gray. Its forearm is long; its tail is long;

Range and habitat

The only known colony of this species, as of 2007, was in a newly-constructed and uninhabited house in the village of Ash Shahar. The elevation of this roost is above sea level. The habitat around the roost, where the bat presumably forages, consists of arid and

semi-desert A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

climate.

Conservation

It is currently evaluated as

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. It meets the criteria for this designation because it is known from only one site, and its total population is estimated at 150 individuals. Main threats to this species are disturbances to its only known roost site. In the same paper where the species was initially described, the authors stated that it "may rank among the most threatened bat species in the Middle East or even in the World."

References

External links

A photo of this species
{{Taxonbar, from=Q10360339 Bats of Asia Mammals described in 2009