Kuhl's pipistrelle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kuhl's pipistrelle |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Pipistrellus
|
| Species: |
kuhlii
|
 |
|
| Global range of P. kuhlii (red) | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Vespertilio kuhlii Kuhl, 1817 |
|
Kuhl's pipistrelle (Pipistrellus kuhlii) is a species of vesper bat that occurs in large areas of North Africa, Southern Europe and West Asia. It lives in temperate forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, temperate grassland, rural gardens, and urban areas. It is a rare and infrequent visitor to Britain, usually only detected by sound-recordings. A specimen held at the Palestine Natural History Museum is the first record of the species to be "ensnared by a plant in the Arab world".
Taxonomy
Kuhl's pipistrelle was first named in 1817, under the name Vespertilio kuhlii, in a work by Heinrich Kuhl entitled Die deutschen Fledermäuse ("The bats of Germany"). The specific epithet was chosen by Johann Natterer, who had collected the first specimens, and commemorates Kuhl; under the rules of the ICZN, however, Kuhl himself is regarded as the authority, as the first to report the name.
The population of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Sudan was formerly known as Pipistrellus deserti. This taxon is now considered to be a junior synonym of Pipistrellus kuhlii.
