Plecotus

Brown long-eared bat Plecotus auritus, copyright Dragiša Savić.

Belongs within: Vespertilioninae.

Plecotus, the long-eared bats, is a Holarctic genus of bats with a narrow rostrum and ears much longer than wide (Miller 1907).

Characters (from Miller 1907): Dental formula i2/3, c1/1, pm2/3, m3/3, total 36. Upper incisors well devoloped, each with a distinct secondary cusp, the inner tooth much smaller than the outer, and separated from canine by a space about equal to its diameter; lower incisors subequal, trifid, the crowns increasing in size from first to third, and forming a continuous, strongly convex row between canines. Upper canines rather small and weak, but not peouliar in form; lower canine with cingulum produced into a distinct though small anterior basal cusp. Cheek teeth normal, though rather small; anterior upper premolar (pm²) in contact with canine, but separated from large premolar (pm⁴) by a narrow space; posterior premolar with distinct though small inner cusp; upper molars short on inner side, the spaces between the crowns unusually large; m¹ and m² with no trace of hypocone; m³ with crown area about half that of m², its metacone and third commissure small but distinct; lower molars with all the cusps present and well developed, the protoconid noticeably higher than the hypoconid. Skull with large, elongate and rounded braincase, but with rostrum slender and reduced, its upper surface convex in lateral view; lachrymal ridges well developed (subgenus Plecotus) or lachrymal region smoothly rounded (Corynorhinus); audital bullae large, rounded, their greatest diameter equal to about three times the distance between them. Ears very large, much longer than head, joined across forehead; nostrils opening upward, their orifice continued backward by a slit-like prolongation.

<==Plecotus Geoffroy 1813 [incl. Macrotus Leach 1816 (n. n.) non Gray 1843] M07
    |  i. s.: P. austriacus IT07
    |         P. mexicanus (Allen 1916) MB86
    |         P. rafinesquei Lesson 1827 [=Corynorhinus rafinesquei] K92
    |         P. taivanus IT07
    |         P. teneriffae IT07
    |--*P. (Plecotus) auritus (Linnaeus 1758) M07, K92 [=Vespertilio auritus M07]
    `--P. (Corynorhinus Allen 1865) G69, M07 (see below for synonymy)
         |--P. (*C.) macrotis M07
         `--P. (C.) townsendii Cooper 1837 G69, K92
              |--P. t. townsendii MB86
              |--P. t. australis (Handley 1955) MB86
              |--P. t. ingens BP87
              `--P. t. virginianus BP87

Nomen nudum: Macrotus europaeus Leach 1816 M07

Plecotus (Corynorhinus Allen 1865) G69, M07 [=Corynorhynchus Peters 1865 M07; incl. Synotus Allen 1864 non Keyserling & Blasius 1839 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.

[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.

[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.

[MB86] Matson, J. O., & R. H. Baker. 1986. Mammals of Zacatecas. Special Publications, Museum of Texas Tech University 24: 1–88.

[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.