Eptesicus

The big brown bat Eptesicus fuscus, photographed by Jessica Nelson.

Belongs within: Vespertilioninae.

Eptesicus, the serotines or house bats, is a genus of fairly generalised bats found in Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas. As indicated by the vernacular name, members of this genus commonly roost in man-made structures such as houses or barns; they also roost in hollow trees or rock crevices. The genus includes the big brown bat Eptesicus fuscus of North and Central America.

Characters (from Miller 1907): Dental formula I2/3, C1/1, P1/2, M3/3. Teeth strictly normal throughout and showing no special peculiarities. Both upper incisors well developed, inner larger than outer and usually with distinct secondary cusp, outer separated from canine by space equal to its greatest diameter. Lower incisors subequal, trifid, closely crowded and distinctly imbricated, forming strongly convex row between canines; crown of third wider than that of either first or second. Canines simple with distinct cingulum but no secondary cusps. Premolars with no special peculiarities. Molars normal; m¹ and m² with hypocone always indicated and in some species well developed, distinct concavity between hypocone and protocone; m³ variable in form, usually with well developed metacone and three commissures in smaller species, but with metacone and third commissure obsolete in larger species; lower molars with all cusps present and of normal form. Skull with rostrum flattish or more usually rounded off above, nares and palatal emargination not specially enlarged, the latter at least as deep as wide.

<==Eptesicus Rafinesque 1820 (see below for synonymy) C57
    |--E. fuscus (Beauvois 1796) K92 [=Vespertilio fuscus C57; incl. *E. melanops C57]
    |    |--E. f. fuscus C57
    |    `--E. f. miradorensis (Allen 1866) (see below for synonymy) C57
    |--E. baverstocki IT07
    |--E. bobrinskoi IT07
    |--E. bottae IT07
    |--E. brasiliensis (Desmarest 1819) K92 (see below for synonymy)
    |    |--E. b. brasiliensis (see below for synonymy) C57
    |    |--E. b. andinus Allen 1914 [incl. E. chiriquinus Thomas 1920] C57
    |    `--E. b. argentinus Thomas 1920 C57
    |--E. brunneus IT07
    |--E. capensis M07
    |--E. demissus IT07
    |--E. diminutus Osgood 1915 C57
    |--E. douglasorum IT07
    |--E. fidelis Thomas 1920 C57
    |--E. flavescens IT07
    |--E. floweri IT07
    |--E. furinalis (D’Orbigny 1847) C57 (see below for synonymy)
    |--E. gaumeri G69
    |--E. grandis MHL03
    |--E. guadeloupensis IT07
    |--E. guineensis IT07
    |--E. hottentotus B78
    |--E. innoxius (Gervais 1841) (see below for synonymy) C57
    |--E. kobayashii IT07
    |--E. loveni BP87
    |--E. matroka M07
    |--E. matschiei M07
    |--E. megalurus M07
    |--E. melckorum IT07
    |--E. minutus M07
    |--E. montosus Thomas 1920 [incl. E. inca Thomas 1920] C57
    |--E. nasutus IT07
    |--E. nilssoni JE06 (see below for synonymy)
    |--E. pachyomus [=*Pachyomus pachyomus] M07
    |--E. pachyotis IT07
    |--E. platyops IT07
    |--E. pumilus WH02
    |--E. regulus IT07
    |--E. rendalli M07
    |--E. sagittula IT07
    |--E. serotinus Schreber 1778 K92 (see below for synonymy)
    |--‘*Nyctiptenus’ smithii M07
    |--E. somalicus IT07
    |--E. tatei IT07
    |--E. tenuipinnis (Peters 1872) K92 [=Vesperus tenuipinnis M89]
    |--E. vulturnus IT07
    `--E. walli BP87

Eptesicus Rafinesque 1820 [incl. Adelonycteris Allen 1892, Amblyotus Kolenati 1858, Aristippe Kolenati 1863, Cateorus Kolenati 1856, Cnephaeus Kaup 1820, Meteorus Kolenati 1858, Neoromicia Roberts 1926, Noctula Bonaparte 1841, Nyctiptenus Fitzinger 1870, Patchyomus Gray 1866, Pareptesicus Bianchi 1917, Rhyneptesicus Bianchi 1917, Tuitatus (n. n.), Vesperus Keyserling & Blasius 1839 (preoc.)] C57

Eptesicus brasiliensis (Desmarest 1819) K92 [=Vespertilio brasiliensis C57; incl. E. chapmani Allen 1915 C57, Vesperus melanopterus Jentink 1904 C57, E. melanopterus K92]

Eptesicus brasiliensis brasiliensis (Desmarest 1819) [incl. Vespertilio arctoideus Wagner 1855, Vesperugo arge Cope 1889, Vespertilio derasus Burmeister 1854, Vespertilio ferrugineus Temminck 1839, Vespertilio hilarii Geoffroy 1824, Eptesicus hilarei, E. hilarii, Vesperugo hilarii, Vespertilio nitens Wagner 1855] C57

Eptesicus furinalis (D’Orbigny 1847) C57 [=Vespertilio furinalis C57; incl. Vesperugo (Vesperus) dorianus Dobson 1885 C57, E. dorianus M07]

Eptesicus fuscus miradorensis (Allen 1866) [=Scotophilus miradorensis, Vespertilio fuscus miradorensis; incl. Eptesicus fuscus pelliceus Thomas 1920] C57

Eptesicus innoxius (Gervais 1841) [=Vespertilio innoxius; incl. V. espadae Cabrera 1901, Eptesicus espadae, E. punicus Thomas 1920] C57

Eptesicus nilssoni JE06 [=Aristippe nilssoni M07, Meteorus nilssoni M07; incl. *Amblyotus atratus M07, Eptesicus borealis M07]

Eptesicus serotinus Schreber 1778 K92 [=*Cateorus serotinus M07, *Cnephaeus serotinus M07; incl. Vespertilio alcythoe M07]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BP87] Burton, J. A., & B. Pearson. 1987. Collins Guide to the Rare Mammals of the World. Collins: London.

[B78] Butler, P. M. 1978. Insectivora and Chiroptera. In: Maglio, V. J., & H. B. S. Cooke (eds) Evolution of African Mammals pp. 56–68. Harvard University Press: Cambridge (Massachusetts).

[C57] Cabrera, A. 1957. Catalogo de los mamiferos de America del Sur. I (Metatheria—Unguiculata—Carnivora). Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia” e Instituto Nacional de Investigacion de Las Ciencias Naturales, Ciencias Zoológicas 4 (1): 1–307.

[G69] Goodwin, G. G. 1969. Mammals from the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, in the American Museum of Natural History. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 141 (1): 1–269, 40 pls.

[IT07] Isaac, N. J. B., S. T. Turvey, B. Collen, C. Waterman & J. E. M. Baillie. 2007. Mammals on the EDGE: conservation priorities based on threat and phylogeny. PloS One 2 (3): e296.

[JE06] Jacobs, D. S., G. N. Eick, M. C. Schoeman & C. A. Matthee. 2006. Cryptic species in an insectivorous bat, Scotophilus dinganii. Journal of Mammalogy 87 (1): 161–170.

[K92] Klompen, J. S. H. 1992. Phylogenetic relationships in the mite family Sarcoptidae (Acari: Astigmata). Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan 180: i–vi, 1–154.

[MHL03] Meng, J., Y. Hu & C. Li. 2003. The osteology of Rhombomylus (Mammalia, Glires): Implications for phylogeny and evolution of Glires. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 275: 1–247.

[M07] Miller, G. S., Jr. 1907. The families and genera of bats. Smithsonian Institution, United States National Museum, Bulletin 57: i–xvii, 1–282, pl. I–XIV.

[M89] Modigliani, E. 1889. Appunti intorno ai mammiferi dell’isola Nias. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie 2a 7: 238–245.

[WH02] Worthy, T. H., & R. N. Holdaway. 2002. The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric life of New Zealand. Indiana University Press: Bloomington (Indiana).