59. European Free-tailed Bat, Tadarida teniotis (Rafinesque, 1814)

(IUCN Red List: LC)

Subspecies: Monotypic species.

Distribution: Uncommon but widespread; recorded in the rocky terrain and crevices along the Euphrates Valley, Palmyra, coastal, and southwestern regions (Fig. 66).

Previous records: Qal’at Salah ad-Din, Ayyash, Tell Shhab, as-Sehel, Bloudan, Damascus, Maalula, Yabroud, Palmyra, Qal’at Al-Hosson, Kasret Muhammed Ali, ar-Raqqa, Qal’at Al-Marqab, Mount Hermon (Benda et al. 2006) and Qal’at Najim (Shehab et al. 2007).

Remarks: Based on reported differences in the pelage coloration, the Egyptian and Middle Eastern populations of T. teniotis were regarded to represent a separate subspecies T. t. rueppelli Temminck, 1826 (see Kock & Nader 1984). However, the colour variation was found to be rather mosaic-like in this bat, and without a relation with the formal intraspecific division; the species was suggested to be considered as monotypic (Benda et al. 2008). The results of a geographically broad-scale molecular genetic comparison by Amorim et al. (2020) supported this opinion.