Vespertilio sinensis ( Peters, 1880 )

Jo, Yeong-Seok, Baccus, John T. & Koprowski, John L., 2018, Mammals of Korea: a review of their taxonomy, distribution and conservation status, Zootaxa 4522 (1), pp. 1-216 : 54

Vespertilio sinensis ( Peters, 1880) —Asian Particolored Bat

Ƒesperus sinensis Peters, 1880 p.259 ; Type locality- Beijing, China; Simmons, 2005 p.498.

Ƒespertilio murinus superans Thomas, 1898 p.770 ; Type locality- Hebei, China; Kuroda, 1938 p.102; Tate, 1947 p.90.

Ƒespertilio superans: Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.152 ; Won, 1958 p.458; Won, 1967 p.344; Won, 1968 p.122; Corbet, 1978 p.58; Han, 1994 p.45; Won & Smith, 1999 p.15; Yoon, 2010 p.77.

Ƒespertilio superans superans: Corbet, 1978 p.58 .

Range: The distribution of V. sinensis covers all Korea ( Yoon 2010), but the Asian particolored bat appears more in northern Korea ( Won 1968; Fig. 34 ). The species was locally abundant even around Seoul and Gyeonggi Province until the 1970s but is extremely rare in South Korea ( Son 2001). This species was recently discovered in Busan, Geoje and Mungyeong, South Korea.

Remarks: This bat has a confusing taxonomy. Vespertilio namiyei was considered a subspecies of V. sinensis ( Corbet 1978; Simmons 2005). Vespertilio sinensis was erroneously assigned to the Genus Nyctalus ( Simmons 2005) and listed as a synonym of N. noctula ( Corbet 1978; Koopman 1993). Some taxonomists insisted on the name V. superans ( Yoon 2010) . However, V. sinensis has priority as the oldest name for this species ( Horácek 1997; Simmons 2005).

Conservation status: The Red Data Book for North Korea lists the species as ‘Rare’ (MAB National Committee of DPR Korea 2002), whereas, in South Korea it is listed as ‘Least Concern’ (NIBR 2012).

Figures

FIGURE 34. Range map of Ƒespertilio sinensis in Korea.