The Arizona myotis (''Myotis occultus'') is a

vesper bat Vespertilionidae is a family of microbats, of the order Chiroptera, flying, insect-eating mammals variously described as the common, vesper, or simple nosed bats. The vespertilionid family is the most diverse and widely distributed of bat familie ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

inhabiting much of the southwestern United States and central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

as far south as the

Distrito Federal A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they ...

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described as a new species in 1909 by American zoologist

Ned Hollister Ned Hollister (November 26, 1876 – November 3, 1924) was an American biologist primarily known for studying mammals. Hollister was born in Delavan, Wisconsin, to parents Kinner Newcomb Hollister (1841–1911) and Frances Margaret (Tilden) Hollis ...

. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

was collected near

Needles, California Needles is a city in San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert region of Southern California. Situated on the western banks of the Colorado River, Needles is located near the Californian border with Arizona and Nevada. The city is a ...

, in 1905. Its specific name "'' occultus''" is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "hidden or concealed".

Description

It is a small species with a total length of — of the total length, consists of its tail. Its fur is glossy brown with a cinnamon tint. The ventral fur and its face are paler brown.

Range and habitat

Its range includes parts of the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

and the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is found in a range of elevations from near sea level to above sea level.

Conservation

As of 2018, it is evaluated as a

least-concern species A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

. It meets the criteria for this classification because it has a wide geographic range, its range includes

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

s, and it is not likely experiencing rapid population decline.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1831736 Mouse-eared bats Bats of the United States Bats of Mexico Mammals described in 1909 Taxa named by Ned Hollister