Ozark big-eared bat

Ozark big-eared bat
An Ozark big-eared bat on a cave ceiling
Hibernating Ozark big-eared bat

Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Vespertilionidae
Genus: Corynorhinus
Species:
Subspecies:
C. t. ingens
Trinomial name
Corynorhinus townsendii ingens
Handley, 1955
Synonyms[4]

Plecotus townsendii subsp. ingens (Handley, 1955)

The Ozark big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii ingens) is an endangered species found only in a small number of caves in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, the southern central United States. Also known as the western big-eared bat, the long-eared bat, and the lump-nosed bat, its appearance is defined by a pair of outsize ears and a lump-adorned nose.

The Ozark big-eared bat is the largest and reddest of the five subspecies of Corynorhinus townsendii, is medium-sized and weighs from 0.2 to 0.5 ounces.[5] It has very large, 1-inch-long ears that connect at the base across the forehead.[5] The snout has large, prominent lumps above the nostrils.[5] These particular bats feed on moths and other insects; they forage along forest edges.[5]

  1. ^ NatureServe (1 December 2023). "Corynorhinus townsendii ingens". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Ozark big-eared bat (Corynorhinus (=Plecotus) townsendii ingens)". Environmental Conservation Online System. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  3. ^ 44 FR 69206
  4. ^ "Corynorhinus townsendii ingens Handley, 1955". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service