Little brown bat
| Little brown bat | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Vespertilionidae |
| Subfamily: | Myotinae |
| Genus: | Myotis |
| Species: | M. lucifugus |
| Binomial name | |
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Myotis lucifugus (LeConte, 1831) |
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The little brown bat (sometimes called little brown myotis) (Myotis lucifugus) is a species of the genus Myotis (mouse-eared bats), one of the most common bats of North America. The little brown bat has been a model organism for studying bats.
As suggested by the bat’s name, its fur is uniformly dark brown and glossy on the back and upper parts with slightly paler, greyish fur underneath. Wing membranes are dark brown on a typical wingspan of 22–27 cm (8.7–10.6 in). Ears are small and black with a short, rounded tragus. Adult bats are typically 6–10 cm (2.4–3.9 in) long and weigh 5–14 grams (0.2–0.5 oz). Females tend to be larger than males. The fore and hind limbs have five metapodials. The skull of the brown bat lacks a sagittal crest. Its rostrum is shortened and has upslope profile of the forehead. Its braincase flattened and sub-circular when observed dorsally. The bat has 38 teeth all of which including molars are relatively sharp, as is typical for an insectivore, and canines are prominent to enable grasping hard-bodied insects in flight.
The little brown bat can be distinguished from the Indiana bat by the absence of a keel on the caclar and long hairs on the hind feet that stretch longer than the toes. Compared to the long-legged bat, the brown bat has a shorter tibia and lesser amounts of ventral wing hair in addition to the lack of a keel on the caclar.
The little brown bat is found throughout much of North America. It is most common in the northern half of the continental United States and southern Canada. Most specimens from the northern edge of its range are males although nursery roosts have been found in the Yukon. Brown bats have been found in Iceland, Alaska, and Kamchatka, likely due to accidental ship transportation by humans.
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Wikipedia