The Joffre's pipistrelle Hypsugo joffrei is a rare and very little known vespertilionid bat previously thought to be confined to Myanmar and Vietnam in Southeast Asia. Based on recently collected material and reassessment of museum specimens, this species is being reported for the first time from India and Nepal which also significantly extends its westward geographic range beyond Myanmar. We also critically compare the type specimen of another poorly known congener from Myanmar, H. anthonyi with the present material and propose to recognize the name H. anthonyi as the junior subjective synonym of H. joffrei. Specimens previously identified as Philetor brachypterus from South Asia were found to represent H. joffrei, as well. Consequently, the distribution range of Philetor is restricted to the Sundaic zoogeographical subregion, the Philippines, New Guinea and Bismarck Is., and the species should be omitted from the bat checklists of India and Nepal.
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1 January 2020
First records of Hypsugo joffrei (Thomas, 1915) and the revision of Philetor brachypterus (Temminck, 1840) specimens (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the Indian Subcontinent
Uttam Saikia,
Gábor Csorba,
Manuel Ruedi
Revue suisse de Zoologie
Vol. 124 • No. 1
March 2017
Vol. 124 • No. 1
March 2017
Chiroptera
India
Vespertilionidae