Though it was initially described in 1873 as a species, for many years it was considered synonymous with the desert long-eared bat, Otonycteris hemprichii.

The authors of the 2010 paper stated that there is a large amount of variation within the Turkestani long-eared bat, which they ascribed to three tentative, unnamed subspecies.

It differs from the desert long-eared bat due to its smaller auditory bullae, longer snout, and less-curved baculum.

[1] So far, it has been documented in several countries throughout Asia, including Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Possible threats to this species include disturbance of their roosts by humans, and pesticide exposure from consuming affected insects.