Asellia tridens | UAE National Red List of Mammals: Marine and Terrestrial

Taxa
Asellia tridens | (É. Geoffroy, 1813)
Publication
UAE National Red List of Mammals: Marine and Terrestrial
Location
Countries in Assessment
United Arab Emirates
Country ISO code(s)
ARE
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Off
Scope (Assessment)
National
Taxon
Taxonomic Group
Vertebrates
Taxonomic Group Level 2
Mammals
Assessed taxon level
Species
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
This species was recorded in large numbers in the 1950s. Several hundred individuals were observed, and several collected, in falaj (irrigation) tunnels at Al Ain in 1953 and numbers were seen flying out of old buildings in Sharjah city towards the airfield in July 1954 (Harrison 1955). It was next recorded in 2005 when a dead individual, apparently hit by a car, was found in a tree-lined road in Al Ain, and again in 2015 when a few live individuals were observed in a cave at Ain al Waal at the bottom of Jebel Hafeet (Judas et al. 2018). There was a new record in 2018 from the Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah border area (J. Pereira pers. comm. 2018) and two were caught in a cave in western Fujairah during a survey in early 2018 (Jomat et al. 2018). The species is likely to be more widespread than these records indicate. Globally, the species ranges widely across North Africa south to Ethiopia and Somalia, the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East, to Afghanistan and Pakistan (Monadjem et al. 2017b). It is quite widely distributed in Arabia (Harrison and Bates 1991).
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Terrestrial system
No
Freshwater system
No
Marine system
No
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
In the UAE it is recorded roosting in buildings, falaj tunnels and caves. It is a colonial species that occupies crevices and cliffs in arid and semi-desert habitats, also roosting in caves, mines, and old tombs and buildings (Monadjem et al. 2017b).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Data deficient
Assessment status abreviation
DD
Assessment rationale/justification
This species had been recorded in large numbers in the 1950s in two areas in UAE (Sharjah city and the Al Ain area) but is only known in small numbers from recent records. It is assessed as Data Deficient because too little is know about the current status and it is difficult to interpret the apparent decline in numbers since the 1950s. No regional adjustment is made to the Data Deficient assessment.
About the assessment
Assessment year
2018
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Affliation of assessor(s)/contributors/reviewers listed on assessment
Government
IGO
Assessor affiliation specific
Government|IGO
Criteria system
Criteria system specifics
IUCN v3.1
Criteria system used
IUCN
Criteria Citation
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
URL (link) of redlist assessment or publication
https://www.moccae.gov.ae/assets/download/b352eff1/UNRL%20of%20Mammals%20-%20Report%202019.pdf.aspx?view=true
Endemism
Endemic to region
Not_assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Conservation
Threats listed in assessment
Unknown. The increasing extent and intensity of urban lighting may have a negative impact on nocturnal flying invertebrates, the main prey base. Species in the mountains may be affected indirectly through falling water tables due to over-abstraction and reduced precipitation.
Conservation Measures

Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:

Further information
History
The backcasted 1996 assessment for this species is Data Deficient which matches the listing given by Hornby (1996).
Scientific Name Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Asellia tridens Animalia Chordata Mammalia Chiroptera Hipposideridae Asellia