Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the Eastern Mediterranean and ...

Fig. 4. Records of Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Schreber, 1774) in Crete.
and/or netted in the areas not directly related to their roosts. Pieper (1977) reported findings of
this bat in owl pellets from three sites in Crete (3.4%).
In eight cases we recorded aggregations of R. ferrumequinum representing nursery colonies
(both directly observed and indirectly assumed), four of them were situated in natural caves
(composed of 20–250 inds.), one in a mine (Ano Fortetsa, around 10 inds.; however, this record
is rather related to a transient aggregation), and three in abandoned buildings (20–500 inds.).
Winter aggregations of bats were recorded solely in natural caves (at least in 13 cases, besides
the records of wintering solitaries), they were composed of up to 330 individuals (on average
85 inds.). However, no true hibernants were found in the Nykteridospilios cave at Ano Asites
studied comprehensively by Galanaki (2006), or elsewhere in the island.
R. ferrumequinum is the most widespread bat in Greece (Hanák et al. 2001), it was recorded
in all geographical parts of the country, including northern and southern mainland regions and
many islands; Hanák et al. (2001) reviewed records from Thasos, Lesbos, Skyros, Euboea, Siros,
Paros, Kos, Rhodes, Crete and Corfu. Von Helversen (in Mitchell-Jones et al. 1999) mentioned an
additional unspecified record from northern Cyclades (Andros/Tinos). Mitchell-Jones et al. (1999)
showed this bat to be widely distributed in the European Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean,
including numerous islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Corsica, Elba, Sardinian archipelago, Sicily,
Malta, many Dalmatian islands). In Cyprus, R. ferrumequinum was found to be the fourth most
common bat (Benda et al. 2007), though occurring in rather more elevated areas than in Crete.
TAXONOMY. Miller (1912) was the first to evaluate Cretan samples of R. ferrumequinum and attributed
them to the nominotypical form. Ondrias (1965) assigned all then Greek records including
the Cretan ones to this form too. Felten et al. (1977) included one specimen from Crete in their
analysis of Mediterranean populations and made the same conclusion as the previous authors.
Iliopoulou-Georgudaki & Ondrias (1986) compared a sample of 17 specimens from Crete to
literature data and their own samples from mainland Greece; on the basis of differences in nine
cranial and external dimensions as well as in pelage coloration – Cretan samples were found to be
relatively small and pale – they described a separate subspecies, R. ferrumequinum creticum (type
locality: Cave “Milatos” [= Milatou cave], Lasithi, Crete). Since the authors did not specify the
name creticum as a noun, its form should be corrected to creticus according to the generic name
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