The whiskered bat (''Myotis mystacinus'') is a small

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

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 ...

with long

fur Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...

. Although uncommon, ''M. mystacinus'' is often found around human habitation and around

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

; it is similar to

Brandt's bat Brandt's bat or Brandt's myotis (''Myotis brandtii'') is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is native throughout most of Europe and parts of western Asia. Taxonomy and etymology The species was described in 1845 by G ...

(''Myotis brandtii''), from which it was distinguished as a separate species only in 1970.

Overview

The analysis of morphological, behavioural, and especially genetic characters have since identified further

cryptic species In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

of whiskered bats in the genus ''Myotis'', including ''

Myotis alcathoe The Alcathoe bat (''Myotis alcathoe'') is a European bat in the genus ''Myotis''. Known only from Greece and Hungary when it was first described in 2001, its known distribution has since expanded as far as Portugal, England, Sweden, and Russia. I ...

'' (described in 2001 from Europe). '' Myotis aurascens'' and '' Myotis ikonnikovi'' are other similar species. ''Myotis hajastanicus'' was also included in ''M. mystacinus'' until recently, but it was differentiated on the base of morphologic comparison.

Echolocation

The frequencies used by ''M. mystacinus'' for echolocation are 34–102 kHz, have most energy at 53 kHz, and have an average duration of 3.0 ms.Obrist, M.K., Boesch, R. and Flückiger, P.F. (2004) 'Variability in echolocation call design of 26 Swiss bat species: Consequences, limits and options for automated field identification with a synergic pattern recognition approach.' ''Mammalia''., 68 (4): 307-32.

References

External links

ARKive
Stills, Video Mouse-eared bats Bats of Europe Mammals of Asia Mammals of Russia Mammals of Azerbaijan Mammals of Turkey Mammals described in 1817 Taxa named by Heinrich Kuhl Bats of Asia Bats of Africa {{Vespertilionidae-stub