Hairy-legged Myotis

Open encyclopedia reference

The hairy-legged myotis (Myotis keaysi) is a species of mouse-eared bat. It is found from southern Tamaulipas in Mexico, through much of Central America and across northern South America as far east as Trinidad. Further south, it is found along the foothills of the Andes as far south as northern Argentina.

Originally identified in 1914 as a subspecies of red myotis, and later as a subspecies of black myotis, it was raised to full species status in 1973. Two subspecies are currently recognised:

Myotis keaysi keaysi - Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, south-western Colombia

Myotis keaysi pilosatibialis - western Colombia, northern Venezuela, Trinidad, Central America, southern and eastern Mexico

Wikipedia contributors, Hairy-legged myotis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:35:50.552135+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Myotis (Pizonyx) keaysi J. A. Allen, 1914

Name authority

J. A. Allen, 1914

Common name

Hairy-legged 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. subgenusPizonyx Miller, 1906
18. speciesMyotis (Pizonyx) keaysi J. A. Allen, 1914

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.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=632024 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:456F9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.