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: Music *''Say'' (album), 2008 album by J-pop singer Misono * "Say" (John Mayer song), 2007 *"Say (All I Need)", 2007 song by American pop rock band OneRepublic * "Say" (Method Man song), 2006 single by rapper Method Man * "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 ...

, 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

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

The hoary bat averages long with a wingspan and a weight of . It is the largest bat normally found in

. 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.

References

External links

NatureServe

* *
Bat Conservation International Species Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q587145

Hoary bat The hoary bat (''Lasiurus cinereus'') is a species of bat in the vesper bat family, Vespertilionidae. It lives throughout most of North America (possibly including Hawaii, although this is disputed). Taxonomy The hoary bat was described as a ...

Hoary {{Short pages monitor