A specimen of Vespertilio murinus was captured on 13 May 2014 on the grounds of the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The species was unambiguous-ly identified based on molecular (cytochrome b gene) and morphological characters. This represents the first record of V. murinus from the Arabian Peninsula. A revised checklist of the Vespertilionidae is presented for the Arabian Peninsula which includes 27 species belonging to 13 genera. A phylogeny for the Arabian vespertilionid species is also presented showing the paraphyly of Eptesicus and the position of Nyctalus within Pipistrellus.