Pipistrellus

Gunnell, Gregg F., Butler, Percy M., Greenwood, Marjorie & Simmons, Nancy B., 2015, Bats (Chiroptera) from Olduvai Gorge, Early Pleistocene, Bed I (Tanzania), American Museum Novitates 2015 (3846), pp. 1-35 : 15-16

Cf. Pipistrellus sp.

REFERRED SPECIMENS: NMT.030/Bat, right distal humerus, FLK NNI, layer 2 or 3; NMT.040/ Bat, left distal humerus, FLK NI, layer 3, Tr. IV, 1964 (see table 1 for measurements).

DESCRIPTION: Two fragmentary distal humeri from Olduvai represent pipistrelles, similar in size and morphology to Pipistrellus nanulus and P. rueppelli , the former known today from equatorial Africa and the latter from much of the African continent ( Simmons, 2005).

In anterior view the distal end of NMT.030/Bat has a narrow capitulum that is slightly angled and not offset from shaft. The lateral capitular tail is much less broad than the trochlear surface and is not separated from capitulum by a groove. The trochlear groove is moderately deep, the trochlear surface is relatively wide and robust, and the trochlear lip not sharply defined. The medial epicondylar process is small and extends distally only slightly beyond trochlear ridge. In posterior view, the groove on the lateral surface of the epicondyle is weak to absent. NMT.040/Bat differs slightly from NMT.030/Bat in lacking the slight angulation of the capitulum and in having a more sharply defined trochlear lip. Otherwise the two humeri are nearly identical.

Pipistrelles are unknown from the fossil record in Africa outside Olduvai ( Butler, 1978; Simmons and Gunnell, in prep.).