''Rhogeessa'' is a genus of bats within 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 ...

s family, Vespertilionidae.

Species

Yucatan yellow bat The Yucatan yellow bat (''Rhogeessa aenea'') is a species of bat found in the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, and possibly also in Belize and Guatemala. These small insectivorous bats forage on flying insects (most likely mosquitoes) at dawn and d ...

(''R. aenea'') * Bickham's little yellow bat (''Rhogeessa bickhami'') * Genoways's yellow bat (''R. genowaysi'') * Husson's yellow bat (''R. hussoni'') * Thomas's yellow bat (''R. io'') * Menchu's little yellow bat (''R. menchuae'') * Tiny yellow bat (''R. minutilla'') * Least yellow bat (''R. mira'') * Little yellow bat (''R. parvula'') *'' Rhogeessa permutandis'' *

Black-winged little yellow bat The black-winged little yellow bat (''Rhogeessa tumida'') is a species of vesper bat native to Central America. Description The black-winged little yellow bat is a small bat, with a total length of between , and no significant difference in size ...

(''R. tumida'') * Ecuadorian little yellow bat (''R. velilla'')

Taxonomy debate

This genus is systematically complex and sometimes controversial. One reason that the genus is complex is because of the species' variable

karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is discerned by de ...

s:Baird, A. B., Hillis, D. M., Patton, J. C., & Bickham, J. W. (2008)
Evolutionary history of the genus Rhogeessa (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) as revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequences
Journal of Mammalogy, 89(3), 744-754. *Note that ''R. tumida'' is listed four times, as individuals have been found with four different

s. This may represent a

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

.

Some have placed Allen's yellow bat into its own genus, ''Baeodon'' based on its differences with other members of the genus.Hoofer, S. R., & Bussche, R. A. V. D. (2003). Molecular phylogenetics of the chiropteran family Vespertilionidae. Acta Chiropterologica, 5(1), 1-63. However, others argue that as Allen's yellow bat and the slender yellow bat are

sister taxa In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

, to exclude only one from ''Rhogeessa'' makes it a

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

group. By that logic, either both species need to be included in ''Rhogeessa'', or both need to be placed in ''Baeodon''. A 2008 paper recommended moving the slender yellow bat to the ''Baeodon genus''. Others say that ''Baeodon'' should be recognized as a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

of ''Rhogeessa'' instead of as a separate genus.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q608576 Bat genera Bats of North America Bats of South America Taxa named by Harrison Allen