NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Least Pipistrelle Bat
Hypsugo musciculus (Thomas, 1913)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The mouselike pipistrelle (Hypsugo musciculus) is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is found in Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gabon. Its natural habitats are subtropical and tropical dry and moist lowland forests.
It is the only species in the genus Hypsugo known to exist in sub-Saharan Africa; all others have been reclassified into the genera Neoromicia or Nycticeinops. However, its exact taxonomic placement remains uncertain.
Wikipedia contributors, Mouselike pipistrelle; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:12:17.586517+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hypsugo musciculus (Thomas, 1913)
- Name authority
- (Thomas, 1913)
- Common name
- Least Pipistrelle Bat
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Family
- Vespertilionidae
- Genus
- Hypsugo
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderChiroptera Blumenbach, 1779
- suborderYangochiroptera Koopman, 1984
- superfamilyVespertilionoidea Gray, 1821
- familyVespertilionidae Gray, 1821
- subfamilyVespertilioninae Gray, 1821
- tribeVespertilionini Gray, 1821
- genusHypsugo Kolenati, 1856
- speciesHypsugo musciculus (Thomas, 1913)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Hypsugo. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Arabian PipistrelleHypsugo arabicus (Harrison, 1979) | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-brown PipistrelleHypsugo kitcheneri (Thomas, 1915) | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lanza's PipistrelleHypsugo lanzai Benda, Al-Jumaily, Reiter & Nasher, 2011 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Burma pipistrelleHypsugo lophurus (Thomas, 1915) | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Big-eared PipistrelleHypsugo macrotis (Temminck, 1840) | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Savi's PipistrelleHypsugo savii (Bonaparte, 1837) | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Vordermann's PipistrelleHypsugo vordermanni (Jentink, 1890) | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chocolate PipistrelleHypsugo affinis (Dobson, 1871) | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Alashanian PipistrelleHypsugo alaschanicus (Bobrinskii, 1926) | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Desert PipistrelleHypsugo ariel (Thomas, 1904) | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cadorna's PipistrelleHypsugo cadornae (Thomas, 1916) | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Brown PipistrelleHypsugo imbricatus (Horsfield, 1824) | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Pipistrellus musciculus Thomas, 1913 Thomas, 1913 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=946206 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3P4S3. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.