HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: It has only recently been discovered that bats formerly described as common pipistrelles, Pipistrellus pipistrellus are in fact two species. These are the common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus), echolocating at 55kHz, and the soprano pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) which echolocates at 45kHz. It is not known how this species colonised Ireland, but it was first recorded in the 19th century and is probably the most common bat species.

© Jon Russ 2001. Text refereed by Angela Ross & Lynne Rendle.

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