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Serotine bat
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Serotine bat
The serotine bat (Cnephaeus serotinus), also known as the common serotine bat, big brown bat, or silky bat, is a fairly large Eurasian bat with quite large ears. It has a wingspan of around 37 cm (15 in) and often hunts in woodland. It sometimes roosts in buildings, hanging upside down, in small groups or individually. The name serotine is derived from the Latin serotinus, which means 'evening', while the generic name derives from Greek ἔπιεν and οίκος, which means 'house flyer'.[citation needed]
The following subspecies have been recognised.
The Oriental serotine (E. pachyomus) and its constituent subspecies were formerly considered a subspecies of E. serotinus, comprising its eastern populations, and is still considered its closest relative, but phylogenetic evidence indicates a deep genetic divergence between E. serotinus and E. pachyomus, so they have been split as distinct species. The same occurred with the meridional serotine (E. isabellinus), which was formerly thought to comprise the southernmost populations of E. serotinus.
The serotine bat has long fur which on the back is smoky-brown in colour, while the underparts are a paler yellowish-brown, the nose and triangular shaped ears are black, and the membranes of the wings are dark black or brown. The juveniles are darker than the adults. Serotine bats are easy to identify in flight, because its broad wings combined with its slow, highly manoeuvrable, flapping flight interspersed with brief glides is distinctive. The tragus has a relatively thin and pointed shape and is not kidney shaped as in Nyctalus.
The serotine bat has a Palaearctic distribution lying between about 58 degrees and 30 degrees from southern Great Britain and Spain in the west, east to along the Himalayas to northeastern India and along the Tian Shan to southern Mongolia and northern China, and south to Turkey and Iran. It has been recorded as a vagrant on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.
The serotine bat utilises in a wide variety of habitats including temperate and subtropical dry forest, maquis, agricultural land, semi-desert and suburban areas.
In Europe serotine bats start to establish maternity colonies consisting almost exclusively of females from late May. Colonies usually remain at a single roost site during the breeding season, although occasionally the larger colonies will change roost sites. The female bats usually give birth to a single pup in early July, though births have been recorded as late as mid-August.
The female bats normally give birth to a single young in late summer, and the baby is occasionally carried by its mother for the first few days. The young bats usually make their first flights at around three weeks old, and at six weeks they can forage for themselves. Breeding colonies usually disperse by early September, although a few bats may use the colony site as a roost until early October. The male bats probably remain solitary or in small groups but are occasionally found with females in spring or autumn. Mating seems to take place in the autumn, but very little is known about the mating behaviour. Both sexes reach sexual maturity at one year old.
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Serotine bat
The serotine bat (Cnephaeus serotinus), also known as the common serotine bat, big brown bat, or silky bat, is a fairly large Eurasian bat with quite large ears. It has a wingspan of around 37 cm (15 in) and often hunts in woodland. It sometimes roosts in buildings, hanging upside down, in small groups or individually. The name serotine is derived from the Latin serotinus, which means 'evening', while the generic name derives from Greek ἔπιεν and οίκος, which means 'house flyer'.[citation needed]
The following subspecies have been recognised.
The Oriental serotine (E. pachyomus) and its constituent subspecies were formerly considered a subspecies of E. serotinus, comprising its eastern populations, and is still considered its closest relative, but phylogenetic evidence indicates a deep genetic divergence between E. serotinus and E. pachyomus, so they have been split as distinct species. The same occurred with the meridional serotine (E. isabellinus), which was formerly thought to comprise the southernmost populations of E. serotinus.
The serotine bat has long fur which on the back is smoky-brown in colour, while the underparts are a paler yellowish-brown, the nose and triangular shaped ears are black, and the membranes of the wings are dark black or brown. The juveniles are darker than the adults. Serotine bats are easy to identify in flight, because its broad wings combined with its slow, highly manoeuvrable, flapping flight interspersed with brief glides is distinctive. The tragus has a relatively thin and pointed shape and is not kidney shaped as in Nyctalus.
The serotine bat has a Palaearctic distribution lying between about 58 degrees and 30 degrees from southern Great Britain and Spain in the west, east to along the Himalayas to northeastern India and along the Tian Shan to southern Mongolia and northern China, and south to Turkey and Iran. It has been recorded as a vagrant on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.
The serotine bat utilises in a wide variety of habitats including temperate and subtropical dry forest, maquis, agricultural land, semi-desert and suburban areas.
In Europe serotine bats start to establish maternity colonies consisting almost exclusively of females from late May. Colonies usually remain at a single roost site during the breeding season, although occasionally the larger colonies will change roost sites. The female bats usually give birth to a single pup in early July, though births have been recorded as late as mid-August.
The female bats normally give birth to a single young in late summer, and the baby is occasionally carried by its mother for the first few days. The young bats usually make their first flights at around three weeks old, and at six weeks they can forage for themselves. Breeding colonies usually disperse by early September, although a few bats may use the colony site as a roost until early October. The male bats probably remain solitary or in small groups but are occasionally found with females in spring or autumn. Mating seems to take place in the autumn, but very little is known about the mating behaviour. Both sexes reach sexual maturity at one year old.
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