Local bats diversity exceeded the regional bats diversity in Xinjiang, China

Echolocation acoustic signature identification is an ideal non-invasive field survey method for chiropteran diversity. Located in the far easternmost region of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region where covers one sixth of China’s land territory, Komul city includes a variety of landscapes, including typical mountains, plateaus, plains, and the Gobi Desert, which is home to a number of terrestrial animals. By gathering bat echo sound waves between July and September 2022 and during April 2023, we investigated bat species diversity in Komul, Xinjiang, China. As a result, we identified a total of 24 species of bats belonging to two families and ten genera, of which Myotis is the dominant genus with seven species, followed by Pipistrellus with four species, and both Eptesicus and Nyctalus come after with three species. 16 of these species are novel to Xinjiang. The altitudinal distribution of these species is 500m to 2200m above sea level, and their horizontal distribution includes most of the surveyed region, e.g., Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County, Arturk County, and Ivirghul District. From a conservation perspective, three species ( Miniopterus schreibersii 、 Myotis capaccinii and Nyctalus lasiopterus ) and two species ( Barbastella barbatellus and Myotis dasycneme ) are listed as “vulnerable” and “near threatened” in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, respectively. Rest of which are of least concern. Our findings provide a valuable reference for future ecological, genetic, and conservational studies of bats in China, especially in Xinjiang.