GOT International

A boon for bat lovers

Granollers museum's bat logo

THE COUNTRY’S fast-growing  fraternity of bat watchers  has just been given a big  boost with the publication of the most comprehensive-ever field guide to bats in Catalonia. Authored  jointly by Carles Flaquer and Xavier Puig, the soft-cover pocket-size guide,  written in Catalan and called Els ratpenats de Catalunya (The bats of Catalonia), gives an in-depth account of the 30 species of bats found in the country. These include one species new to the country and only recently discovered.

Published by Brau Edicions under the auspices of the Natural Science Museum of Granollers and GALANTHUS,  an environmental research organisation, the 141-page guide is replete with sharp, close-up photographs of the bats and their habitats and is  designed to appeal to both novice and veteran bat lovers and enthusiasts.

But what will certainly set it apart from conventional guidebooks is its 37-page section on how to actually go about rigorously determining the species of a bat. This section is full of illustrations of bat anatomy, precision-drawn by artist Toni Llobet, that would allow one to ascertain with a very high degree of confidence the species of a bat being studied, even one under observation in its habitat – from a discreet distance, of course.

                                     Front cover star billing for the Brown Long-eared Bat & the Noctule Bat (bottom left). 

Positive identification of a live bat in hand, or from cranium remains, or even via sound detectors  is much easier with the aid of the Dichotomous Key method of categorizing species set out in the field guide. Also called a sequential key or pathway key, the system begins by asking the user to decide on one of a number of affirmations, the choice of which determines the next step. When each step has only two leads, the key is said to be dichotomous; otherwise it is polytomous. Flaquer and Puig, for example, kick off the identification process of a bat in its habitat with these alternative assertions:

1a. The animal hangs freely from the ceiling, attached mainly with the help of the legs.

1b. The animal is lying in another position (within a fissure, on the horizontal support surface...)

Picking one of the alternatives takes one to the next set of leads.

Both Flaquer and Puig have been investigating bats for several years now.  Flaquer, a biologist who earned his doctorate researching bats, is coordinator of the Area of Bat Investigation at the Museum of Natural Science in Granollers, capital of the county of Vallès Oriental (Eastern Valley). He is president of SECEMU, the Sociedad Española para la Conservación y el Estudio de los Murciélagos (Spanish Association for the conservation and study of bats). Puig, an environmental scientist, is secretary of SECEMU and is currently doing research work on bats and their impact on the environment for GALANTHUS, the environmental research organisation of which he is a founder member. Galanthus collaborates closely  with the Granollers museum’s Area of Bat Investigation.

Profiles of each of the 30 species found in Catalonia are given in a two-page fact sheet containing  pictures of the bat and its typical habitat, global and Catalonian range maps, and factual information under four standardized headings:

What’s it like?

What do we know about it?

Where do we find it?

Threats it faces, and current conservation  measures.

The  bats found in Catalonia are all insectivores (insect eaters). The smallest, a 3.5cm pygmy, is the Soprano Pipistrelle which is at home in wetland, woodland, farmland and urban environments. The largest is the Greater Noctule Bat, one of the rarest European bat, with a body length of about 16cm and  wingspan of up to 46 cm. The authors have also included a new species, Myotis cf. nattereri (no English equivalent), discovered during research led by Dr.  Carlos Ibáñez, the Deputy Director of Scientific Collections at the Doñana Biological Station.

The species found in Catalonia are:

(Names in English, Latin & Catalan, with their respective threat status)

Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum),Ratpenat de ferradura gros - NT

Lesser Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros), Ratpenat de ferradura petit - NT

Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus euryale), Ratpenat de ferradura mediterrani - VU

Mehely’s Horseshoe Bat, (Rhinolophus mehelyi), Ratpenat de ferradura mitjà - EN

Greater Mouse-eared Bat (Myotis myotis), Ratpenat rater gros - VU

Lesser Mouse-eared Bat (Myotis blythii), Ratpenat rater mitjà - VU

Geoffroy’s Bat (Myotis emarginatus), Ratpenat d’orelles dentades - VU

Bechstein’s Bat (Myotis bechsteinii), Ratpenat de Bechstein - EN

Whiskered Bat (Myotis mystacinus), Ratpenat de bigotis - EN

Alcathoe (Myotis alcathoe), Ratpenat de bigotis petit - EN

Myotis escalerai (Myotis escalerai), Ratpenat gris ibèric - unindexed

Daubenton’s Bat (Myotis daubentonii), Ratpenat d’aigua - NT

Long-fingered Bat (Myotis capaccinii), Ratpenat de peus grossos - EN

Common Pipistrelle Bat (Pipistrellus pipistrellus), Pipistrel·la comuna - LC

Soprano Pipistrelle Bat (Pipistrellus pygmaeus ), Pipistrel·la nana - LC

Nathysius’ Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus nathusii ), Pipistrel·la  de Nathusius - NT

Kuhl’s Pipistrelle Bat (Pipistrellus kuhlii), Pipistrel·la de vores clares - LC

Savi’s Pipistrelle Bat  (Hypsugo savii), Ratpenat muntanyenc - LC

Leisler’s Bat (Nyctalus leisleri ), Nòctul petit - NT

Noctule Bat (Nyctalus noctula), Nòctul gros - unindexed

Greater Noctule Bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus), Nòctul gegant - VU

Parti-coloured Bat (Vespertilio murinus), Ratpenat argentat - EN

Serotine Bat (Eptesicus serotinus), Ratpenat dels graners - LC

Western Barbestelle Bat (Barbastella barbastellus), Ratpenat de bosc - NT

Brown Long-eared Bat (Plecotus auritus), Orellut daurat - NT

Grey Long-eared Bat (Plecotus austriacus), Orellut gris - LC

Alpine Long-eared Bat (Plecotus macrobullaris), Orellut alpí - EN

Schreibers’ Bent-winged Bat (Miniopterus schreibersii), Ratpenat de cova - VU

European Free-tailed Bat (Todarida teniotis), ratpenat cuallarg - LC

Myotis cf. natterer, Ratpenat gris itàlic  (new species, unindexed)

Key to IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Index:

E          Extinct;

EW       Extinct in the Wild;

CR       Critically Endangered

EN       ENdangered    

VU       VUlnerable                  

NT        Near Threatened      

LC        Least Concered           

ELS RATPENATS DE CATALUNYA

Puig X. , Flaquer C.

REF. L0021476

ISBN 9788496905795

Editorial Brau (2012)

141 pages, Softcover / 200 x 130 mm.

€15 (taxes included)

A marvel of evolution: the  Grey Long-eared Bat (Plecotus austriacus) using its sixth sense – echolocation – to steer clear of obstacles in pitch darkness --   Picture by JORDI BAS
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Report by Abul Fazil