Brown long-eared bat
Brown long-eared bat | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Chiroptera |
Family: | Vespertilionidae |
Genus: | Plecotus |
Species: | P. auritus
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Binomial name | |
Plecotus auritus | |
Synonyms | |
Vespertilio auritus Linnaeus, 1758 |
The brown long-eared bat or common long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus) is a small
Habitat
The brown long-eared bat is found throughout Europe, with the exception of Greece, southern Italy and southern Spain. It is found to the east up to the Urals and Caucasus.[3] The UK distribution can be found on the National Biodiversity Network website and can be seen here.
Brown long-eared bats regularly utilise buildings roosting in undisturbed roof spaces either singly, in crevices and timber, or in clusters around chimneys and ridge ends. This species also roosts in treeholes, bat boxes and caves which are important as winter hibernation sites. The roosts in trees may be close to the ground. Emergence from roost sites usually only occurs in the dark, around an hour after sunset.[4]
It hunts above
Echolocation
Echolocation is not used to find prey. The frequencies used by this bat species for echolocation lie between 27–56 kHz, have most energy at 35 kHz and have an average duration of 2.5 ms. However, unlike most bats, the long-eared can hunt their prey by hearing alone. Their hearing is sensitive enough to hear a moth in flight. This hunting strategy evolved because prey items, namely certain moth species evolved the ability to hear the echolocation and take evading action.[8][9]
Gallery
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Drawing by Ernst Haeckel
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Detail of head
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Woodcut from R. A. Sterndale, 1884
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Exemplar in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History
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Romanian stamp
References
- . Retrieved 12 January 2024.
- ^ Linnæus, Carl (1758). Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I (in Latin) (10th ed.). Holmiæ: Laurentius Salvius. p. 32. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
- ^ "Plecotus auritus", Science for Nature Foundation
- ^ Russ, J. (1999). The Bats of Britain and Ireland. Echolocation calls, sound analysis, and species identification. Powys: Alana Books.
- ^ "Brown long-eared bat".
- S2CID 53194611.
- ^ "The Bats of Britain". www.bio.bris.ac.uk. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
- PMID 10934005.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - S2CID 86180828.
- Sources
- Woodland Management For Bats Guide Archived 2013-03-19 at the Wayback Machine
- Gazaryan, S.; Kruskop, S.V.; Godlevska, L. (2020). "Plecotus auritus". . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- Stevens, Martin (2005): The role of eyespots as anti-predator mechanisms, principally demonstrated in the Lepidoptera. (HTML abstract)
External links
- ARKive Photographs