The western yellow bat (''Dasypterus xanthinus'') is a species of

vesper bat Vespertilionidae is a family of microbats, of the order Chiroptera, flying, insect-eating mammals variously described as the common, vesper, or simple nosed bats. The vespertilionid family is the most diverse and widely distributed of bat famili ...

found in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and the southwestern United States. This species roosts in trees such as ''

Populus fremontii ''Populus fremontii'', commonly known as Frémont's cottonwood, is a cottonwood (and thus a poplar) native to riparian zones of the Southwestern United States and northern through central Mexico. It is one of three species in ''Populus'' sect ...

'', ''

Platanus wrightii ''Platanus wrightii'', the Arizona sycamore, is a sycamore tree native to Arizona and New Mexico with its range extending south into the Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, and Sinaloa.Laferriere, J.E. Platanaceae, "Sycamore or Plane Tree Family ...

'', and ''

Quercus arizonica ''Quercus arizonica'', the Arizona white oak, is a North American tree species in the beech family. It is found in Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sinaloa, and Durango. Description The Arizona white oak is on ...

''. If available, the western yellow bat will use the dead fronds that encircle

palm trees Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm ( ...

as a roosting site.

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described as a new subspecies of bat in 1897 by British zoologist Oldfield Thomas. He listed it as a subspecies of the

southern yellow bat The southern yellow bat (''Dasypterus ega'') is a species of vesper bat that belongs to suborder microchiroptera (microbat) in the family Vespertilionidae. It is native to South, North and Central America, from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas i ...

, with a

trinomen In biology, trinomial nomenclature refers to names for taxa below the rank of species. These names have three parts. The usage is different in zoology and botany. In zoology In zoological nomenclature, a trinomen (), trinominal name, or ternary ...

of ''Dasypterus ega xanthinus''. In 2015, Baird et al. argued that this species and other yellow bats should be in the genus ''Dasypterus'', though others have since argued that ''Dasypterus'' should remain a subgenus of ''Lasiurus''. In 1988, Baker et al. argued that it should be considered a full species based on its

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

. In a 2017 follow-up to their 2015 study, Baird et al. again expressed that ''Aeorestes'', ''Dasypterus'', and ''Lasiurus'' should be separate genera comprising the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

Lasiurini. They stated that the genetic distance of the three genera was much greater than observed between other bat genera, on average. In contrast to the average of 12.0% inter-generic divergence reported from another study on bats, ''Aeorestes'' and ''Dasypterus'' varied 18.79%; ''Aeorestes'' and ''Lasiurus'' varied 19.05%; and ''Dasypterus'' and ''Lasiurus'' varied 19.79%. Its

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

"''xanthinus''" is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''xanthos'', meaning "pertaining to yellow."

Description

The western yellow bat is a small species, though it is larger than the southern yellow bat. Its fur is bright yellow. Individuals weigh approximately . Its forearm length is . Its

dental formula Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiolog ...

is for a total of 32 teeth.

Range and habitat

Its range includes the Southwestern United States of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

, in addition to parts of

. It is found in West and Central Mexico, as well as

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

Conservation

As of 2017, it is evaluated as a

least-concern species A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

by the IUCN.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q606219 Bats of Mexico Bats of the United States Bat, Western Yellow Mammals described in 1897 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Lasiurini Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN