Common Pipistrelle

Common Pipistrelle
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Chiroptera
Suborder:	Microchiroptera
Family:	Vespertilionidae
Genus:	Pipistrellus
Species:	P. pipistrellus
Binomial name
Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Schreber, 1774)

The Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus is a small pipistrelle bat whose very large range extends across most of Europe, North Africa, southwestern Asia, and possibly into Korea. It is one of the most common bat species in the British Isles.

It is 3.5-4.5 cm long with a wingspan of 19-25 cm. Its brown fur is variable in tone. It is common in woodland and farmland but is also found in towns, where it roosts in lofts and buildings.

In 1999 the Common Pipistrelle was split into two species on the basis of different-frequency echo-location calls. The Common Pipistrelle uses a call of 45 kHz, while the Soprano Pipistrelle echo-locates at 55 kHz. Since the two species were distinguished, a number of other differences, in appearance, habitat and food, have also been discovered.

Pipistrellus pipistrellus in flight

Echolocation

The frequencies used by this bat species for echolocation lie between 45-76 kHz, have most energy at 47 kHz and have an average duration of 5.6 ms. ^[1][2]

References

• Aulagnier & Benda (2004). Pipistrellus pipistrellus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern.

1. ^ Parsons, S. and Jones, G. (2000) 'Acoustic identification of twelve species of echolocating bat by discriminant function analysis and artificial neural networks.' J Exp Biol., 203: 2641-2656.
2. ^ Obrist, M.K., Boesch, R. and Flückiger, P.F. (2004) 'Variability in echolocation call design of 26 Swiss bat species: Consequences, limits and options for automated field identification with a synergic pattern recognition approach.' Mammalia., 68 (4): 307-32.

External links

• ARKive Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Pipistrellus pygmaeus Photographs and videos.