Barbastelle bat  (Barbastella barbastellus)

Learn about the scientific name of this species and how it fits into the tree of life at Nature Navigator.

Description

This rare medium-sized bat has a short nose, small eyes and wide ears with a triangular shaped tragus. It has long silky fur, dark brown to black in colour with whitish tips giving the bat a frosted appearance (2). The wings are broad with grey-brown or black-brown membranes, and the tail membrane is extremely large (2). The scientific name Barbastella derives from the Latin for 'star beard' (4) (5); and refers to the delicate beard of frosted white hairs radiating out from the lower lip (6).

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