The hoary bat (''Lasiurus cinereus'') is a species of
bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...
in the
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 famili ...
family, Vespertilionidae. It lives throughout most of
North America (possibly including
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
, although this is disputed).
Taxonomy
The hoary bat was
described as a new species in 1796 by
Palisot de Beauvois
Ambroise Marie François Joseph Palisot, Baron de Beauvois (27 July 1752, in Arras – 21 January 1820, in Paris) was a French naturalist and zoologist.
Palisot collected insects in Oware, Benin, Saint Domingue, and the United States, from 17 ...
. Beauvois noted that 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 sever ...
was collected in the US state of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
by an individual identified as "Master Pancake". It has many taxonomic synonyms, including ''Vespertilio pruinosis'' (
Say
Say may refer to:
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* "Say" ( ...
, 1823) and ''Atalpha mexicana'' (
Saussure, 1861). Mammalogist
Harrison Allen
Harrison Allen (1841–1897) was an American physician and anatomist, born in Philadelphia. He graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1861, and in 1862 became a surgeon in the United States Army and served ...
was the first to use its current name combination of ''Lasiurus cinereus'', doing so in 1864.
In a later publication, Allen placed it in the now-defunct genus ''Atalapha'', with a scientific name of ''Atalpha cinerea''.
The
South American hoary bat (''L. villosissimus''), which is found throughout
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
, and the
Hawaiian hoary bat
The Hawaiian hoary bat (''Lasiurus semotus''), also known as ''ōpeapea'', is a species of bat endemic to the islands of Hawaii. Whereas the mainland hoary bat (''L. cinereus'') is found throughout North America, the Hawaiian hoary bat is distrib ...
(''L. semotus''), which is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
, were both previously classified under the hoary bat, but phylogenetic evidence supports them being distinct species.
Some have argued to elevate the subgenus (Aeorestes) to a genus level classification for ''L. cinereus.'' However, this has not been accepted by taxonomic authorities as it violates the International Code of Zoologigal Nomenclature
Distribution
It ranges throughout
North America, from northern
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
south to
Guatemala. Although the Hawaiian subspecies ''L. semotus'' was reclassified into a distinct species, studies in 2015 and 2017 found evidence supporting two different colonization events of
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
by ''Lasiurus'' species; one about 1.4 million years ago by the ancestors of ''L. semotus'', but also a much more recent colonization by true ''L. cinereus''. This would mean that ''L. cinereus'' also inhabits the Hawaiian islands, in
cryptic sympatry with ''L. semotus''.
However, in contrast, a 2020 genetic study found no evidence of multiple bat species on Hawaii, finding the islands to only be inhabited by a single species, ''L. semotus'', and attributed the previous results as a consequence of
incomplete lineage sorting
Incomplete lineage sorting, also termed hemiplasy, deep coalescence, retention of ancestral polymorphism, or trans-species polymorphism, describes a phenomenon in population genetics when ancestral gene copies fail to coalesce (looking backwards i ...
.
Description
![Hoary bat dorsal coloration](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Hoary_bat_dorsal_coloration.JPG)
The hoary bat averages long with a wingspan and a weight of . It is the largest bat normally found in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Its
coat is dense and dark brown, with white tips to the hairs that give the species its 'hoary' appearance for which it is named.
The body is covered in fur except for the undersides of the wings. Males and females are
dimorphic in body mass, with females 40% heavier than males.
Behavior
The bat normally roosts alone on trees, hidden in the foliage, but on occasion has been seen in caves with other bats. It prefers woodland, mainly
coniferous forests
Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All exta ...
, but hunts over open areas or lakes. It hunts alone and its main food source is
moth
Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...
s. The bats can cover an impressive while foraging.
Hoary bats are long-distance migrants, spending the winter in
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
and the southwestern United States and the spring and summer in more northern latitudes in the United States and Canada.
Reproduction
The reproductive cycle of the hoary bat is not yet fully documented, but it is thought that they mate in August with birth occurring in June of the following year. It is thought that the
gestation period is only 40 days and that
mammalian embryonic diapause (delayed implantation) may play a role. Females typically bear twins, though litter sizes range from 1–4.
Young are typically weaned after 7 weeks.
Conservation
While not listed as threatened or endangered, hoary bats suffer significant mortality from
wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each yea ...
s. Across the United States in 2005, 40% of all bats killed by wind turbines were hoary bats—over 1000 hoary bats were killed in 2005.
Most bat deaths occur during migration in the spring and fall.
One common theory explaining this is that bats are attracted to the tall structure, possibly believing them to be trees that can be used for rest.
See also
*
Bats of Canada There are eighteen indigenous species of bats in Canada, which are found in many parts of the country. They are insectivores, and are prey to falcons, hawks, owls, snakes, cats, and raccoons.Health Canada
Species
The little brown bat is the mos ...
*
Bats of the United States
Most of the many bat species found in the United States are insectivorous except for three flower eating species that migrate from Mexico and one that inhabits the Florida Keys.
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Species
Bats belong to the biological order of Chiropt ...
References
External links
NatureServe*
*
Bat Conservation International Species Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q587145
Hoary bat
Hoary
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Hoary
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Hoary
Mammals of Colombia
Mammals of Chile
Mammals of Hawaii
Mammals of Peru
Fauna of the Western United States
Fauna of the San Francisco Bay Area
Mammals described in 1796