Alcathoe Myotis

Open encyclopedia reference

The Alcathoe bat (Myotis alcathoe) is a European bat in the genus Myotis. Known only from Greece and Hungary when it was first described in 2001, its known distribution has since expanded as far as Portugal, England, Sweden, and Russia. It is similar to the whiskered bat (Myotis mystacinus) and other species and is difficult to distinguish from them. However, its brown fur is distinctive and it is clearly different in characters of its karyotype and DNA sequences. It is most closely related to Myotis hyrcanicus from Iran, but otherwise has no close relatives. With a forearm length of 30.8 to 34.6 mm (1.21 to 1.36 in) and body weight of 3.5 to 5.5 g (0.12 to 0.19 oz), Myotis alcathoe is a small bat. The fur is usually reddish-brown on the upperparts and brown below, but more greyish in juveniles. The tragus (a projection on the inner side of the ear) is short, as is the ear itself, and the inner side of the ear is pale at the base.

Wikipedia contributors, Alcathoe bat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:22:13.465275+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Myotis (Myotis) alcathoe von Helversen & Heller, 2001

Name authority

von Helversen & Heller, 2001

Common name

Alcathoe Myotis

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Chiroptera

Family

Vespertilionidae

Genus

Myotis

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderChiroptera Blumenbach, 1779
12. suborderYangochiroptera Koopman, 1984
13. superfamilyVespertilionoidea Gray, 1821
14. familyVespertilionidae Gray, 1821
15. subfamilyMyotinae Tate, 1942
16. genusMyotis Kaup, 1829
17. subgenusMyotis Kaup, 1829
18. speciesMyotis (Myotis) alcathoe von Helversen & Heller, 2001

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Myotis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 407 records assigned to Vespertilionidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. von Helverson, O., K.-G. Heller, F. Mayer, A. Nemeth, M. Volleth, and P. Gombkötö. (2001). Cryptic mammalian species: a new species of whiskered bat (Myotis alcathoe n. sp.) in Europe. Naturwissenschaften, Vol. 88, No. 5. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:456D5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.