Chiroptera; The Order Of Bats
The order of bats is divided into two sub-orders, Megachiroptera and Microchiroptera, with the former consisting of large fruit bats and flying foxes, which can among other places be found in Australia. Chiroptera means (vaguely) handwing, derived from the Greek kheir and pterous. The Microchiroptera are the smaller, more diverse bats, and much more numerous, making up the majority of approximately 1,110 species worldwide that comprise the Chiroptera; this order as a whole make up a fifth of the Mammalia species.
The Microchiroptera found in the UK, arranged by family, are the greater horseshoe bat and lesser horseshoe bat (R. hipposideros) in the Rhinolophidae family, whereas the common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus), soprano pipistrelle (P. pygmaeus), Nathusius’ pipistrelle (P. nathusii), noctule (Nyctalus noctula), Leisler’s bat (N. leisleri), Daubenton’s bat (Myotis daubentonii), Brandt’s bat (M. brandtii), whiskered bat (M. mystacinus), Natterer’s bat (M. nattereri), Bechstein’s bat (M. bechsteinii), alcathoe bat (M. alcathoe), the greater mouse-eared bat (M. myotis) although only one male is known to live in the UK, the brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus), grey long-eared bat (P. austriacus), serotine (Eptesicus serotinus), and finally the barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus) are all in the Vespertilionidae family although recently one additional species in this family has been found in England; Geoffrey’s bat (Myotis emarginatus) possibly brings the UK total to 19 species.
Of these, 6 species of the common bat family are known to live on campus; the common & soprano pipistrelles, the noctule, Leisler's bat, Daubenton's bat and the brown long-eared bat, although there is the possibility of finding more.
The Microchiroptera found in the UK, arranged by family, are the greater horseshoe bat and lesser horseshoe bat (R. hipposideros) in the Rhinolophidae family, whereas the common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus), soprano pipistrelle (P. pygmaeus), Nathusius’ pipistrelle (P. nathusii), noctule (Nyctalus noctula), Leisler’s bat (N. leisleri), Daubenton’s bat (Myotis daubentonii), Brandt’s bat (M. brandtii), whiskered bat (M. mystacinus), Natterer’s bat (M. nattereri), Bechstein’s bat (M. bechsteinii), alcathoe bat (M. alcathoe), the greater mouse-eared bat (M. myotis) although only one male is known to live in the UK, the brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus), grey long-eared bat (P. austriacus), serotine (Eptesicus serotinus), and finally the barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus) are all in the Vespertilionidae family although recently one additional species in this family has been found in England; Geoffrey’s bat (Myotis emarginatus) possibly brings the UK total to 19 species.
Of these, 6 species of the common bat family are known to live on campus; the common & soprano pipistrelles, the noctule, Leisler's bat, Daubenton's bat and the brown long-eared bat, although there is the possibility of finding more.