The Patagonian bonneted bat (''Eumops patagonicus''), also called the Patagonian dwarf bonneted bat, is a

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 ...

free-tailed bat The Molossidae, or free-tailed bats, are a family of bats within the order Chiroptera. The Molossidae is the fourth-largest family of bats, containing about 110 species as of 2012. They are generally quite robust, and consist of many strong-flyi ...

found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described as a new species in 1924 by British zoologist

Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for the first time. He was appoin ...

. Thomas had obtained 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 ...

from Argentinean-Italian scientist Roberto Dabbene, who worked in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

at the time. Its

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

"''patagonicus''" means "belonging to

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

." The Patagonian bonneted bat was widely considered a subspecies of the dwarf bonneted bat (''Eumops bonariensis'') from approximately 1932 until the 1990s. Based on Gregorin ''et al.s 2016 classification, the Patagonian bonneted bat is a member of the ''bonariensis'' species group of the genus ''Eumops''. Other members include the dwarf bonneted bat, '' E. delticus'', and '' E. nanus''.

Description

It is a small member of its genus, with a forearm length of . Its head and body is ; its tail is long; its ears are long.

Range and habitat

Its range includes several countries in southern South America, including Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay.

Conservation

It is currently evaluated as

least concern 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 ...

—its lowest conservation priority. It meets the criteria for this assessment because it has a large range, its population size is likely large, and it is not thought to be in rapid population decline.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1833390 Eumops Mammals of Patagonia Mammals of Argentina Mammals of Bolivia Mammals of Paraguay Mammals described in 1924 Bats of South America Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas