Bound By -^^ FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY A Contimiation of the ZOOLOGICAL SERIES of FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY VOLUME 58 AS NATURAL Xy\ /Ar HISTORY >•] FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY CHICAGO, U.S.A. ioS6;jo FIELDIANA ^^^!?";°f Zoology ^^'''' Published by Field Museum of Natural History Volume 58, No. 3 " August 13, 1971 New Distributional Records of Bats from Iran Anthony F. DeBlase Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago ABSTRACT New range extensions of species of bats into, and within, Iran are reported including: first records of Taphozous perforatus and Tadarida aegyptiaca; second records of Myotis capaccinii, M. nattereri, Pipistrellus savii, Eptesicus nasutus, and Vespp.rtilio murinus; and a third specimen of Tadarida teniotis. Of the 35 species of bats reported to date from Iran only one, Pipistrellus kuhli, has been reported from more than 12 locations. Ten of the 35 species have been reported from only one location. The 1968 W. S. and J. K. Street Expedition to Iran, co-sponsored by Field Museum of Natural History and the Iran Department of Game and Fish, made a particular effort to collect bats. From July to December, 1968 we searched in various selected localities in mountainous western Iran from Maku in the northwestern corner to Minab in south-central Iran. Our efforts produced a total of 610 bat specimens of 25 species from 39 localities. Of these, two are new to the faunal list of Iran and several others provide second or third records and/or major range extensions. In order to make these major records available promptly to other workers, I present the following list. Detailed studies of Iranian mammals, including Chiroptera, resulting from the collections and field observations of this expedition are in preparation. All new specimens mentioned below are in the collections of Field Museum of Natural History. Spellings of place names and co-ordinates are as given in Lay (1967, pp. 243-261) or in the U. S. Board on Geographic Names Gazetteer 19, Iran (1956) published by the U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. Place names not appearing in either of these publications are spelled as they appeared in the Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 71-157380 Publication 1129 9 10 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 58 original publication cited, as on local, bilingual (English and Farsi) road signs, or as they sounded to my ear when pronounced by natives, in that order of preference. Taphozous perforatus E. Geoffroy This bat is known from northeastern Africa and the southwestern portion of the Arabian Peninsula, and from Cutch and Kathiawar in India and West Pakistan (Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1951, p. 104). In 1968 D. L. Harrison (p. 323) reported this species from the vicinity of Sohar and from Suwera in Oman, localities situated about halfway between the two previously known populations. On November 22, 1968 the Street Expedition collected a male T. perforatus near the village of Chah Moslem, about 57 km. N of Bandar-e-Lengeh (26°33'N 54°54'E), Pars Province; this is appar- ently the first record of this species for Iran. On November 29 we collected a second male at Minab (27°19'N 57°05'E), Kerman Province. Each specimen was shot in early evening as it flew high and straight over the collecting site. These are respectively about 350 km. NNW and 325 km. N of Sohar, Oman. The specimens are no. 111128 and no. 111600 in the mammal collections of Field Museum of Natural History. Myotis capaccinii Bonaparte This widely distributed, but rarely collected, bat has been re- ported from Iran by D. M. Lay (1967, p. 140). He collected several from a well shaft 5 km. SE of Pol-i-Abgineh (29°33'N 51°46'E), Fars Province, and observed about 30 in a large room of Shahpur Cave (29°48'N 51°37'E) in the same province. On October 3 the 1968 Street Expedition shot three M. capaccinii as they flew over a large pool near the ruins of the ancient city of Persepolis (29°57'N 52°52'E). On October 9 we collected three from the same room in Shahpur Caye where Lay had observed 30 in December of 1962 during the first Street Expedition to Iran. At the time of our visit the two males and one female collected were the only M. capaccinii found. On November 10 a single male of this species was collected from Canae Gabru, a large cave near the village of Tar Divon about 65 km. N of Jahrom (28°31'N 53°33'E). This was the only M. capaccinii observed in the cave which also con- tained five other species of bats. Thus, the 1968 expedition in- creased the number of Iranian localities for this species to four; all of De BLASE: DISTRIBUTION OF IRAN BATS 11 which are within a 100 km. radius of Shiraz (29°36'N 52°32'E), Fars Province. Myotis nattereri Kuhl Two specimens from the Sulphur Caves at Guter-Su (= Kutur Su 38°18'N 47°43'E), East Azarbaijan Province (Harrison, 1963, p. 302) are the only reported specimens for this bat from Iran. The 1968 Street Expedition collected a male M. nattereri at Maku (39°17'N 44°31'E), West Azarbaijan Province. It was found dead on July 26 in a garden under the huge overhanging cliff at the north edge of the town. On September 25 a female was shot as it flew over our camp at Kuh Rang, Isfahan Province. The Kuh Rang record extends the known range of this species in Iran about 725 km. to the south. Pipistrellus savii Bonaparte Widely distributed, but rarely collected, this bat has only recently been reported from Iran by Farhang-Azad (1969, p. 731). He men- tions seven specimens which were netted over a stream at Chelmir, north Khorassan. The 1968 Street Expedition collected one specimen of P. savii from each of two localities in western Iran. On July 28 we netted a female at the entrance to a cave about 1 km. SE of Maku, West Azarbaijan Province, and on October 1 we shot a male at the village of Sar Dasht, near Lordegan (31°31'N 50°48'E), Isfahan Province. I have been unable to determine the precise location of Chelmir, but Maku and Lordegan are respectively about 1,060 km. NW and 570 km. SW of Khorassan Province. Eptesicus nasutus Dobson Thomas (1905, p. 520) reported a specimen of this bat from Ahwaz (= Ahvaz 31°19'N 48°42'E), Khuzistan Province. This specimen plus four others collected at the same time and place are in the collections of the British Museum (Natural History). Between October 17 and 21 the 1968 Street Expedition shot ten E. nasutus as they flew over camp at Meshrageh on the Jarahi River about 85 km. SW of Ahvaz, Khuzistan Province. On November 30 a single female of this species was shot as it flew over the Dozdan River at Minab, Kerman Province. The Minab specimen extends the range of this species in Iran about 850 km. to the southwest. 12 FIELDL-VNA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 58 Vespertilio murinus Linnaeus Only two specimens of this bat are known from Iran. The first was a male reported by Lay (1967, p. 146) and collected by him near Dasht (37°19'N 56°01'E), Khorassan Province on November 3, 1962. In his report on this species in Iran, Lay (1967, p. 146) cites a previous record as "Etemad (1964, p. 653) . . . two specimens from Isfahan [Province], Mahallat." The 1964 paper by Etemad con- tains no reference to V. murinus, but does, on p. 653, report the first Iranian specimen of Barbastella leucomelas from Mahallat (33°53'N 50°30'E). In his report of B. leucomelas Lay (1967, p. 147) does not mention Etemad's record. Misonne (1959. p. 25) cites "Vespertilio murinus murinus Linne. 1758 (Serotine bicolor). A Shiraz (Blanford, 1876)." Blanford (1876, p. 20), however, reports a specimen of "Vespertilio murinus Schreb." from Shiraz, not V. muriyius Linnaeus. Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951, p. 144) synonymize Vespertilio murinus Schreber with Myotis myotis Borkhausen. The specimen cited by both Blanford and Misonne is, therefore, probably the large Myotis of Iran, Myotis hlythi Tomes. The second specimen of Vespertilio murinus Linnaeus from Iran is a female shot by the 1968 Street Expedition at Sar Dasht, near Lordegan, Isfahan Province, on October 1. This locality is about 790 km. SW of the one previously known. Tadarida aegyptiaca E. Geoffroy This bat is widely distributed in Africa and has been reported from southwestern Arabia (Harrison 1964, p. 109). It is also widely distributed in India and West Pakistan. Specimens from between these two regions have not been previously reported. The 1968 Street Expedition collected two male T. aegyptiaca at the village of Chah Moslem, about 57 km. N of Bandar-e-Lengeh, Ears Province. Both were shot as they flew high and straight over our camp on November 22. This locality is approximately halfway between the closest known records in Arabia and West Pakistan. These are Field Museum specimens no. 111596 and no. 111597. Tadarida teniotis Rafinesque Trouessart (1904, p. 104) mentions this bat from Persia, and Lewis and Harrison (1962, p. 478) and Lay (1967, p. 232) both men- tion two specimens from Iran in the British Museum (Natural De BLASE: DISTRIBUTION OF IRAN BATS 13 History). BM(NH) no. 97.11.10.2 is labeled "Bushire, Persia" (= Bushehr 28°59'N 50°50'E), Fars Province and BM(NH) no. 10.8.12.5 is labeled "Foot of the Elburz S. E. Caspian." Neither specimen is accompanied by a date of collection. The third specimen of T. teyiiotis known from Iran was collected by the 1968 Street Expedition on November 29. It was shot as it flew over the Dozdan River at Minab, Kerman Province. Acknowledgments I am indebted to William S. and Janice K. Street, leaders and sponsors of the expedition, and my fellow scientific members of the expedition, Daniel Womochel and Richard Rust, for generous sup- port and invaluable co-operation. It is a pleasure, also, to extend my gratitude to the staff of the Iran Department of Game and Fish, particularly Mr. Eskandar Firouz, Director, and Mr. Jerry Has- singer. Leader, Terrestrial Wildlife Unit, for their co-sponsorship and help in keeping our expedition running; to Dr. Joseph Curtis Moore of Field Museum of Natural History, for his advice; and to our Iranian staff and others who assisted in making these collections. REFERENCES Blanford, W. T. 1876. Eastern Persia, an account of the Journeys of the Persian Boundary Commission 1870-71-72. Vol. II, The Zoology and Geology, vii + 516 pp. London. Ellerman, J. R. and T. C. S. Morrison-Scott 1951. Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian Mammals. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Publ., London. 810 pp. Etemad, E. 1964. On three new mammals from Iran. Mammalia, 28(4), pp. 652-654. Farhang-Azad, F. 1969. Bats from north Khorassan, Iran. Mammalia, 33(4), pp. 730-732. Harrison, D. L. 1963. Report on a collection of bats (Microchiroptera) from N. W. Iran- Z. Saugetierk., 28(5), pp. 301-308. 1964. The mammals of Arabia. Vol. I, 192 pp. London. 1968. On three mammals new to the fauna of Oman, Arabia, with the descrip- tion of a new subspecies of bat. Mammalia, 32(3), pp. 317-325. Lay, D. M. 1967. A study of the mammals of Iran resulting from the Street Expedition of 1962-63. Fieldiana: Zool., 54. pp. 1-282. 14 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY/VOLUME 58 Lewis, R. E. and D. L. Harrison 1962. Notes on bats from the Republic of Lebanon. Proc. Zool. Soc, London, 138(3), pp. 473-486. MiSONNE, X. 1959. Analyse Zoogeographique des Mammiferes de I'lran. Mem. Inst. Roy. Sci, Nat. Belgique, Deuxieme serie, Fasc. 59, 157 pp. Thomas, O. 1905. On a collection of mammals from Persia and Armenia, presented to the British Museum by Col. A. C. Bailward. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1905, vol. 2, 519-527. Trouessart, E. L. 1904. Catalogus Mammalium, tam viventium quam fossilium. Quinquennale supplementum. Berlin. 929 pp.