''Ia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 family

Vespertilionidae 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 ...

. It belongs to the subfamily

Vespertilioninae The Vespertilioninae are a subfamily of vesper bats from the family Vespertilionidae. Classification Subfamily Vespertilioninae *Tribe Antrozoini **Genus '' Antrozous'' *** Pallid bat, ''Antrozous pallidus'' **Genus '' Bauerus'' *** Van Geld ...

and has been placed in the tribe

Vespertilionini Vespertilionini is a tribe of bats in the family Vespertilionidae. The largest of the tribes in Vespertilioninae, it contains many genera found throughout the Old World and Australasia. Species Species in the tribe include: * Genus '' Afronyct ...

. In the past, it has also been considered a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

or subgenus of the genera ''

Pipistrellus ''Pipistrellus'' is a genus of bats in the family Vespertilionidae and subfamily Vespertilioninae. The name of the genus is derived from the Italian language, Italian word , meaning "bat" (from Latin "bird of evening, bat"). The size of the ge ...

'' or ''

Eptesicus ''Eptesicus'' is a genus of bats, commonly called house bats or serotine bats, in the family Vespertilionidae. The genus name is likely derived from the Greek words ''ptetikos'' 'able to fly' or ''petomai'' 'house flier', although this is not ce ...

'', which used to contain many more species than they do now. ''Ia'' comprises a single living species, the

great evening bat The great evening bat (''Ia io'') is the largest bat in the vesper bat family (Vespertilionidae) and the only living species in the genus '' Ia''. It is common to Eastern and Southeastern Asia ( China, India, Laos, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam), ...

(''I. io'') of eastern and southeastern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, and one extinct

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

species, '' I. lanna'', from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

epoch in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. Another living species, ''I. longimana'', was recognized in the past, but it is no longer considered a valid species distinct from the great evening bat. At two letters, ''Ia'' ties the bat-like dinosaur '' Yi'' for the shortest possible name of any animal genus under the

International Code of Zoological Nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the ...

.International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature. 1999. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Art. 11.8. Online at http://www.iczn.org/iczn/index.jsp

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ia (Genus) Vesper bats Bat genera Mammal genera with one living species Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas