O. G. Dely szerk.: Vertebrata Hungarica 17. (Budapest, 1976)

Ansell, W. F. H. ; Wagner, O.S.: The Type Locality of Minopterus schreibersi (Kuhl) (Mammalia: Chiroptera) 15-18. o.

Vertebr. Hung. XVH. 1976. The Type Locality of Miniopterus schreibersi (KLJHL) (Mammalia: Chiroptera) ANSELL, W. F. H. — TOPÁL, György St. Ives, Cornwall, England — Natural History Museum, Budapest ABSTRACT: Authors review and discuss the literature concerning the actual type locality of the Long-winged Bat, Miniopterus schreibersi. Vespertilio schreibersii Kuhl 1819, Ann. Wetter au Ges. Naturk. , 4 (2): 185. The type locality of this species has long remained vague. It was given in the original description as ". . .südöstlichen Gebirge des Bannats in der Colmbäzer Höhle" which was rendered by MILLER (1912: 269) in his major work on the mammals of western Europe as "Kulmbazer Cave, mountains of southern Bannat, Hungary, " and this has been followed by authors of subsequent standard works such as ELLERMAN & MORRISON-SCOTT (1951: 183) and ELLERMAN, MORRISON-SCOTT & HAYMAN (1953: 87). An exception was G.M.Allen (1939:104) who gave the type locality as "Germany", but this clearly incorrect and must be disregarded. There are various spellings of the name. Colmbäzer is Germanised; Galambócz (antiquated) or Galambóc (modern) are Hungarian; while Golubácz and Kolumbács are probably Hungarianised forms of the Slavonic. Golumbatz and Kulmbozer have also appeared in the literature (see below). There appear to be two possible places where the type-specimen originated, one on each side of the River Danube. According to MÉHELY (1900:296) SCHREIBERS discovered the species in", .the so-called Kolumbács Cave in Bánat and in Veteráni Cave in 1809. "He regarded the Kolumbács Cave as evidently the Fly Cave at the village of Coronini (loc. cit. , footnote). Farther on (page 298 footnote) MÉHELY pointed out that KOLENATI had definitely regarded the cave as being in Serbia. The English traveller John PAGET (1839: 115-116) gave an account of the area as follows: "Golumbatz, - a corruption of columba

, the castle of the dove - is said to have been the prison of the Greek Empress Helena, and was a point often strongly contested in the earlier periods of Hungarian history. In 1428, it was beseiged by King Sigismund, who lost the greater part of his army in the attempt, and who with difficulty escaped with his own life. It was afterwards taken from the Turks by Corvinus, and held by the Hungarians together with other fortresses in Servia, for some time. "; and farther on: "Soon after passing Babakay, the boatman pointed out to us a cavern half-way up the mountain on the Hungarian shore, as the identical cave