Bat migrations have been studied for a long time, but large areas remain poorly explored in this regard. This note reports a record migration distance of the Nathusius’ pipistrelle – 2486 km from Russia to the French Alps. This distance exceeds the previous record flight from Latvia to Spain by 260 km. Hibernating colonies of Nathusius’ pipistrelle are known in the Caucasus. However, our data show that Nathusius’ pipistrelle can fly much longer for hibernating.

Vespertilionidae is the largest chiropteran family that comprises species of different specialization and wide geographic distribution. Up to now, only a few vespertilionid species have been studied by molecular cytogenetic approaches. Here, we have investigated the karyotypic relationships of 4 Vespertilionidae species from Siberia by G-banding and comparative chromosome painting. Painting probes from Aselliscus stoliczkanus were used to establish interspecific homologous chromosomal segments in Myotis dasycneme (2n = 44), Murina hilgendorfi (2n = 44), Plecotus auritus (2n = 32), and Vespertilio murinus (2n = 38). Robertsonian translocations and a few inversions differentiated the karyotypes of the examined species. Painting of P. auritus karyotype with human probes revealed 3 previously undetected cryptic segments homologous to human chromosomes (Homo sapiens, HSA) 8, 15, and 19, respectively. As a consequence, the existence of 2 HSA 4 + 8 syntenies in the P. auritus karyotype has been proven. In addition, a pericentric inversion or centromere shift was revealed on the smallest metacentric P. auritus chromosome 16/17 using the HSA 16 probe explaining the different G-banding pattern in comparison to the homologous Myotis chromosome 16/17.

Abstract The paper presents results of a first attempt to survey bats of the Alatish National Park (northwestern Ethiopia). Twenty-one bat species belonging to eight families and twelve genera were documented for the first time in the Park, at least two bat species (Hipposideros abae, Pipistrellus nanulus) were found new for the fauna of Ethiopia. The Alatish National Park is an area of high conservation value due to its high bat species diversity and a complex structure of the fauna including elements with various zoogeographic affinities.

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