{{Short description|Species of bat}} {{Speciesbox | name = Japanese Long-eared Bat | image = | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref =<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Fukui, D. |author2=Sano, A. |date=2019 |title=''Plecotus sacrimontis'' |volume=2019 |article-number=e.T136664A21988235 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T136664A21988235.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Plecotus | species = sacrimontis | authority = G. M. Allen, 1908 | synonyms = {{specieslist | Plecotus auritus sacrimontis | (Allen, 1908) }} }}

The '''Japanese long-eared bat''' ('''''Plecotus sacrimontis''''') is a species of vesper bat endemic to Japan, where it is found in Hokkaido, Honshu and Shikoku. It has distinctive, long ears, hence its Japanese name, the 'rabbit bat'. Formerly included as a subspecies of the European bat ''Plecotus auritus'', genetic studies now indicate ''Plecotus sacrimontis'' is a separate species.<ref>Ohdachi, Satoshi D. I; Ishibashi, Yasuyuki; Iwasa, Masahiro A.; Saitoh, Takashi (2009): ''The Wild Mammals of Japan'', Shoukadoh, Kyoto, {{ISBN|978-4-87974-626-9}} C0645</ref>

==Taxonomy and etymology== It was described as a new species in 1908 by American zoologist Glover Morrill Allen. The holotype had been collected in December 1906 by Alan Owston on Mount Fuji. Allen received the specimen from Thomas Barbour. Allen noted that it resembled the brown long-eared bat, ''Plecotus auritus''.<ref name="Allen 1908">{{cite journal|last=Allen| first=G. M.|year=1908| title=Notes on Chiroptera| journal=Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College| volume=52| pages=50–51|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4336849}}</ref> Its species name "''sacrimontis''" is from Latin ''sacer'' meaning "sacred" and ''mons'' meaning "mountain."<ref name="Lamboj 2012">{{cite journal|last1=Lamboj| first1= A.| last2=Pichler| first2= C.| year=2012| title= On the validity of Pelvicachromis sacrimontis Paulo, 1977 (Perciformes, Cichlidae), with designation of a neotype, and redescription of the species| journal= Zootaxa| volume= 3436| issue=1| pages= 61–68|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255961931| doi= 10.11646/zootaxa.3436.1.5}}</ref>

In 1929, Nikolay Alekseyevich Bobrinski published that he considered ''P. sacrimontis'' as a synonym of ''P. auritus''. In 1938, Allen himself expressed doubts about ''P. sacrimontis'' as a species, saying "Bobrinski...is very likely right in believing the name a synonym of ''P. auritus''."<ref name="Allen 1938">{{cite journal|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.12195|title=The mammals of China and Mongolia |volume=pt.1 |year=1938|last1=Allen|first1=Glover M.|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12466701|pages=258–260|publisher=American Museum of Natural History |doi-access=free}}</ref> In 1942, George Henry Hamilton Tate published that he considered ''P. sacrimontis'' as a subspecies of ''P. auritus'', with a trinomen of ''P. auritus sacrimontis''.<ref name="Tate 1942">{{cite book|last1=Tate| first1= G. H. H.| year=1942| title= Review of the vespertilionine bats, with special attention to genera and species of the Archbold collections| publisher= American Museum of Natural History| page=231| hdl= 2246/1783}}</ref> This was largely maintained until 2006, when Spitzenberger et al. revised the genus ''Plecotus''. They found that ''P. sacrimontis'' had a high genetic distance from other ''Plecotus'' species, and thus determined that it should be considered a full species rather than a subspecies of ''P. auritus''.<ref name="Spitzenberger 2006">{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1463-6409.2006.00224.x|title=A preliminary revision of the genus Plecotus (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) based on genetic and morphological results|journal=Zoologica Scripta|volume=35|issue=3|pages=187–230|year=2006|last1=Spitzenberger|first1=Friederike|last2=Strelkov|first2=Petr P.|last3=Winkler|first3=Hans|last4=Haring|first4=Elisabeth|s2cid=86065200 }}</ref>

==Description== It has woolly fur and a "mask" of darker fur on its face.<ref name="Spitzenberger 2006"/>

==Range and habitat== Its range includes several islands of Japan, including Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Rebun, and Rishiri. It is also found on the Kuril Islands, specifically Iturup and Kunashir.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> It has been documented at a range of elevations from {{cvt|700-1700|m|ft}} above sea level.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />

==Conservation== As of 2019, it is evaluated as a least-concern species by the IUCN.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />

==References== {{Wikispecies|Plecotus sacrimontis}} {{Reflist}}

{{Vespertilioninae nav}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q2164481}}

Category:Plecotus Category:Bats of Asia Category:Endemic mammals of Japan Japanese long-eared bat Japanese long-eared bat