A finding of Eptesicus gobiensis in an ancient salt mine in Iran and notes on the status of this bat in the Middle East (Mammalia: Chiroptera)
| Pages | 61–72 |
|---|---|
| DOI | 10.37520/jnmpnhs.2021.004 |
| Keywords | Bats, Eptesicus, Iran, archaeozoology, morphometry |
| Type of Article | Peer-reviewed |
| Citation | BENDA, Petr a MASHKOUR, Marjan. A finding of Eptesicus gobiensis in an ancient salt mine in Iran and notes on the status of this bat in the Middle East (Mammalia: Chiroptera). Journal of the National Museum (Prague), Natural History Series. Prague: National Museum, 2021, 190(1), 61–72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37520/jnmpnhs.2021.004. ISSN 1802-6842 (print), 1802-6850 (electronic). Also available from: https://publikace.nm.cz/en/periodicals/jotnmpnhs/190-1/a-finding-of-eptesicus-gobiensis-in-an-ancient-salt-mine-in-iran-and-notes-on-the-status-of-this-bat-in-the-middle-east-mammalia-chiroptera |
Two mummified bats were found in an ancient salt mine near Chehrabad, NW Iran. One complete and one partial skeletons, both associated with parts of the pelage, were identified as Eptesicus gobiensis, a bat species rare in the Middle East. The comparison of skull and statistical evaluation of craniodental data showed this bat to belong to the identical taxon as the mummified bats previously collected in Qutur Su caves, NW Iran; this part of Iran is thus an area of broader distribution of this bat, the second record reported here confirms its preference for dry upper plateaus. This Iranian population exhibits much similarity with E. gobiensis bobrinskoi living in lowland deserts of Kazakhstan, but it simultaneously shows morphological and ecological differences from the Kazakhstani populations. Therefore, the population of Iran is here tentatively identified as E. g. cf. bobrinskoi. The species rank of E. gobiensis was found to be composed of three morphotypes living in three separate ranges, E. g. gobiensis in mountain plateaus of Central Asia, E. g. bobrinskoi in lowlands of Kazakhstan, and E. g. cf. bobrinskoi in NW Iran. However, the phylogenetic and taxonomic statuses of the Iranian morphotype still remain to be elicudated.
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