''Nycticeius'' is a small

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of bats in the

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 ...

family, Vespertilionidae, and the only member of the tribe Nycticeiini. It contains three

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

, the

evening bat The evening bat (''Nycticeius humeralis'') is a species of bat in the vesper bat family that is native to North America. Hunting at night, they eat beetles, moths, and other flying insects. Description The evening bat is a small bat weigh ...

(''N. humeralis''), the

Cuban evening bat The Cuban evening bat (''Nycticeius cubanus'') is a species of bat in the vesper bat family, Vespertilionidae, that is endemic to western Cuba. It is a small bat, even smaller than cogener ''Nycticeius humeralis''. It is insectivorous A ...

(''N. cubanus'') and ''

Nycticeius aenobarbus Temminck's mysterious bat (''Nycticeius aenobarbus'') is a species of bat of the family Vespertilionidae. As the name suggests, there is very little known information about this bat. The species is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List, a ...

''. Some authorities include several other

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by th ...

species in ''Nycticeius'', but recent genetic work shows that is a completely

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

genus. ''Nycticeius'' is of Greek and Latin origin, meaning "belonging to the night".Watkins, L. C. (1972). Nycticeius humeralis. Mammalian species, (23), 1-4. The Cuban evening bat is found only on the island of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, and very little is known about this species. It is similar in appearance to ''N. humeralis'', but is considerably smaller (4–7 grams).

Species

* ''

'' (

Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temmin ...

, 1840) – Temminck's mysterious bat * ''

Nycticeius cubanus The Cuban evening bat (''Nycticeius cubanus'') is a species of bat in the vesper bat family, Vespertilionidae, that is endemic to western Cuba. It is a small bat, even smaller than cogener ''Nycticeius humeralis''. It is insectivorous A ...

'' ( Gundlach, 1861) – Cuban evening bat * '' Nycticeius humeralis'' (

Rafinesque Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; October 22, 1783September 18, 1840) was a French 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ultimat ...

, 1818) – evening bat

References

External links

Bat genera Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque {{Vespertilionidae-stub