Previously treated within P aurtus, then P in Vespertilionidae

Previously treated within P aurtus, then P. austriacus, and then P. teneriffae. Based on morphological analyses, populations of Cyrenaica were separated as race gaisleri, with Maghreb populations tentatively included; but genetic evidence showed bats from these two regions to be distinct from each other. They were subsequently placed in P. kolombatovici as two races (one undescribed), but were later separated as P. gaisleri. Maghreb population appears to be taxonomically distinct, but has yet to be formally separated and described. Treated as monotypic. Distribution. Morocco E to N Libya, in Mediterranean zone; also tentatively Malta.