The Bats of Texas, 2nd edition
Now available from Texas A&M Press

Welcome

About the Website

This website was designed to accompany Bats of Texas, Second Edition by Loren K. Ammerman, Christine L. Hice, and David J. Schmidly (Texas A&M University Press, College Station). The identification key in the book was illustrated by Carson M. Brown and most photographs are by Scott Altenbach. The website was designed by Jay Packer and is organized such that visitors can find the particular museum specimens of Texas bats that were used to document the distribution maps found in each species account in the book.

Bats of Texas - Species List

There are 33 species of bats in 4 families documented in the state of Texas. Some species are known only from a single specimen, while others are much more numerous in collections. Our taxonomy follows Manning, R.W., C. Jones, and F.D. Yancey. 2008. Annotated checklist of recent land mammals of Texas, 2008. Occasional Papers, Museum of Texas Tech University 278: 1-18.

  • Mormoopidae
    • Mormoops megalophylla - Ghost-faced Bat
  • Phyllostomatidae
    • Choeronycteris mexicana - Mexican Long-tongued Bat
    • Leptonycteris nivalis - Mexican Long-nosed Bat**
    • Diphylla ecaudata - Hairy-legged Vampire
  • Vespertilionidae
    • Myotis austroriparius - Southeastern Myotis
    • Myotis californicus - California Myotis
    • Myotis ciliolabrum - Western Small-footed Myotis
    • Myotis occultus - Southwestern Little Brown Myotis
    • Myotis septentrionalis - Northern Long-eared Myotis
    • Myotis thysanodes - Fringed Myotis
    • Myotis velifer - Cave Myotis
    • Myotis volans - Long-legged Myotis
    • Myotis yumanensis - Yuma Myotis
    • Lasiurus blossevillii - Western Red Bat
    • Lasiurus borealis - Eastern Red Bat
    • Lasiurus cinereus - Hoary Bat
    • Lasiurus ega - Southern Yellow Bat*
    • Lasiurus intermedius - Northern Yellow Bat
    • Lasiurus seminolus - Seminole Bat
    • Lasiurus xanthinus - Western Yellow Bat
    • Lasionycteris noctivagans - Silver-haired Bat
    • Parastrellus hesperus - American Parastrelle
    • Perimyotis subflavus - American Perimyotis
    • Eptesicus fuscus - Big Brown Bat
    • Nycticeius humeralis - Evening Bat
    • Euderma maculatum - Spotted Bat*
    • Corynorhinus rafinesquii - Rafinesque's Big-eared Bat*
    • Corynorhinus townsendii - Townsend's Big-eared Bat
    • Antrozous pallidus - Pallid Bat
  • Molossidae
    • Tadarida brasiliensis - Brazilian Free-tailed Bat
    • Nyctinomops femorosaccus - Pocketed Free-tailed Bat
    • Nyctinomops macrotis - Big Free-tailed Bat
    • Eumops perotis - Western Mastiff Bat

* Texas Parks and Wildlife Threatened Species
** Texas Parks and Wildlife Endangered Species

Specimens Examined

Specimen data for each species can be accessed from the main menu above. Each page provides a list of specimens divided into two groups - those that were examined by Schmidly (1991) as they appeared in the first edition of the book (published by Texas A&M Press) and a second group listed in a downloadable spreadsheet format. Specimens in this second group (over 2400 specimens) have been collected since 1991 or were not included in the first edition. In total, there were over 9300 bats examined by the authors and used to update distribution maps for each species. Records can be sorted (by county or collection for example) by clicking on the column heading. Abbreviations that precede catalog numbers identify the museum collection in which it is housed (see the separate box below). Prep type abbreviations refer to the type of specimen preparation (AL=fluid preserved, SS=skin and skull, SB=skin and body skeleton, SO=skin only, SK=skull only, SN=skeleton only).

Museum Abbrevations

A key to the museum abbreviations used in the prefix to specimen catalog numbers.

For More Information

For more on bats — including building bat homes, rabies, white-nose syndrome, and recent scientific discoveries — see the Resources page.