Eptesicus serotinus (Schreber, 1774)

68. Eurasian Serotine, Eptesicus serotinus (Schreber, 1774) View in CoL

(IUCN Red List: LC)

Subspecies: E. s. mirza de-Filippi, 1863.

Distribution: Rather uncommon in the arid areas around the Euphrates Valley, in mountainous habitats near the coast, and in the southwestern regions ( Fig. 75 View FIGURE 75 ).

Previous records: Qater Maghara ( Ebenau 1996), Hayalien, Slenfeh, es-Salihiyyeh, Halabiyyeh, Maalula, Safita, Mount Hermon, and Oden Forest ( Benda et al. 2006), Qal’at Najim, Qal’at er-Rahba, and Qal’at Al-Hosson ( Shehab et al. 2007).

Recent records: Maqlass, Jurd Hurayra (2021).

Remarks: Formerly, the Levantine E. serotinus populations were considered as part of the nominotypical form that occurs in Europe and in the Caucasus (see Harrison & Bates 1991). However, a detailed morphological comparison and molecular genetic analysis indicated that these populations—along with the Iranian population—represent a separate subspecies, E. s. mirza de-Filippi, 1863, described from northern Iran ( Spitzenberger 1994; Benda et al. 2006, 2012; Juste et al. 2013).