A rare bat species was discovered in Uzbekistan

During an expedition by the Institute of Zoology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Turkestan long-eared bat — a rare and poorly studied bat species found in Central Asia — was discovered for the first time in the territory of Uzbekistan within the "South Ustyurt" National Nature Park. This finding was recorded in September 2026 in the southern part of the Ustyurt Plateau, in an area bordering Turkmenistan.

The research was conducted within the framework of the international IKI project — "One Health for Nature Conservation: Enhancing Landscape Resilience to Zoonotic Disease Emergence by Strengthening Conservation Systems in Central Asia." The project is being implemented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature with the support of the National Committee of Ecology and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The Turkestan long-eared bat is a rare chiropteran species about whose distribution and lifestyle information has been very limited for a long time. In 1988, zoologist Pyotr Petrovich Strelkov described it as a subspecies of the grey long-eared bat (Plecotus austriacus). In 2006, Friederike Spitzenberger and her co-authors recognized the Turkestan long-eared bat as an independent species based on morphological and genetic studies.

Until recent studies, the last recorded sighting of this species in nature dated back to 1970. Over the following 55 years, no new "encounters" with it were recorded, and information about the species was mainly based on museum specimens.

In the autumn of 2025, the Museum of Natural History in Berlin led an international team of researchers consisting of scientists from Germany, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan who discovered the Turkestan long-eared bat in the Karakum Desert of Turkmenistan. At that time, it became possible for the first time to obtain photographs and video recordings of living specimens, as well as to record their vocal signals. One of the bats was found near the border with Uzbekistan.

The discovery of the Turkestan long-eared bat in Ustyurt is the first evidence confirming the presence of this species in the fauna of Uzbekistan, marking a new stage in the study of the country's biodiversity. This finding not only expands the data on the distribution of rare chiropterans in Central Asia but also demonstrates the importance of continuing scientific research in the country's poorly studied natural areas.