|Scientific Name:||Pipistrellus raceyi|
|Species Authority:||Bates, Ratrimomanarivo, Harrison & Goodman, 2006|
|Taxonomic Notes:||A recently described endemic species (Bates et al. 2006).|
|Red List Category & Criteria:||Data Deficient ver 3.1|
|Assessor(s):||Jenkins, R.K.B., Rakotoarivelo, A.R., Ratrimomanarivo, F.H. & Cardiff, S.G.|
|Reviewer(s):||Hutson, A.M., Racey, P.A. (Chiroptera Red List Authority) & Hoffmann, M. (Global Mammal Assessment Team)|
This species is listed as Data Deficient because although preliminary evidence suggests that it is widely distributed in lowland areas of parts of eastern and western Madagascar and it exists in a range of vegetation types, there are insufficient data on its habitat requirements and major threats.
|Range Description:||This is an endemic species to Madagascar that is currently known from four localities (Bates et al. 2006), two in the west (Mikea forest and Kirindy CFPF) and two in the east (Kianjavato and Tampolo forests), all below 80 m elevation (from 16 - 70 m asl.).|
|Range Map:||Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.|
|Population:||This recently described species is currently known only from 15 specimens (Bates et al. 2006); however, with further survey work, it may be shown to more common.|
|Habitat and Ecology:||Individuals from the east have been netted near to disturbed lowland and humid forest but also in proximity to agriculture and there is no evidence that this species requires humid forest vegetation to survive (Bates et al. 2006). In the west, P. raceyi was netted inside degraded and relatively intact dry deciduous forest (Bates et al. 2006). In the east it is known to roost inside buildings (Bates et al. 2006). Nevertheless, all four localities are noteworthy for the presence of lowland forest formations and additional surveys are now needed to determine whether this is a genuine reflection of habitat requirements or an artifact of how biologists select their survey sites. If it is the latter case, then P. raceyi may turn out to be a common species in the low-lying areas across much of Madagascar.|
|Major Threat(s):||No major threats are documented, but forest degradation may conceivably reduce availability of suitable foraging and roosting habitat in the west where this species presumably roosts in trees and appears to be associated with forest habitats.|
|Conservation Actions:||Even though this species roosts synanthropically in the east and may therefore be expected to be relatively common given the abundance of suitable roosting sites, it is only known from four locations across Madagascar despite the large survey effort on Malagasy bats in recent years (Goodman et al. 2005; Bates et al. 2006; Cardiff 2006; Rakotonandrasana and Goodman 2007). Of the four known localities, all receive some form of active forest management and it is expected that deforestation at these sites has been and will be less than for non-protected forest. Further studies of this species are needed to investigate why it appears to be forest-dependent in the west but not in the east of its range.|
Cardiff, S. G. 2006. Bat Cave Selection and Conservation in Ankarana, Northern Madagascar. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University.
Goodman, S. M., Andriafidison, D., Andrianaivoarivelo, R., Cardiff, S. G., Ifticene, E., Jenkins, R. K. B., Kofoky, A., Mbohoahy, T., Rakotondravony, D., Ranivo, J., Ratrimomanarivo, F., Razafimanahaka, J. and Racey, P. A. 2005. The distribution and conservation of bats in the dry regions of Madagascar. Animal Conservation 8: 153-165.
Koopman, K. F. 1973. Systematics of Indo-Australian pipistrelles. Periodicum Biologorum 75: 113-116.
Rakotonandrasana, E. N. and Goodman, S. M. 2007. Bat inventories of the Madagascar offshore islands of Nosy Be, Nosy Komba and Ile Sainte Marie. African Bat Conservation News 12: 6-10.
|Citation:||Jenkins, R.K.B., Rakotoarivelo, A.R., Ratrimomanarivo, F.H. & Cardiff, S.G. 2008. Pipistrellus raceyi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 01 March 2015.|
|Feedback:||If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please provide us with feedback so that we can correct or extend the information provided|