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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Cape Serotine

Laephotis capensis (A. Smith, 1829)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Twee Rivieren Camp, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, SOUTH AFRICA

Twee Rivieren Camp, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, SOUTH AFRICA

Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Image source

Provider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.

Open encyclopedia reference

The Cape serotine (Laephotis capensis) is a species of vesper bat occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa. 'Serotine' is from Latin 'serotinus' meaning 'of the evening'.

It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Djibouti.

Wikipedia contributors, Cape serotine; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:02:15.387622+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Laephotis capensis (A. Smith, 1829)
Name authority
(A. Smith, 1829)
Common name
Cape Serotine
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Chiroptera
Family
Vespertilionidae
Genus
Laephotis
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. subfamilyVespertilioninae Gray, 1821
  16. tribeVespertilionini Gray, 1821
  17. genusLaephotis Thomas, 1901
  18. speciesLaephotis capensis (A. Smith, 1829)

Close classified relatives

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

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Angolan Long-eared BatLaephotis angolensis Monard, 1935VespertilionidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Namib Long-eared BatLaephotis namibensis Setzer, 1971VespertilionidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
de Winton's Long-eared BatLaephotis wintoni Thomas, 1901VespertilionidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Malagasy SerotineLaephotis matroka (Thomas & Schwann, 1905)VespertilionidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 407 records assigned to Vespertilionidae.

Names & synonyms

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

Recorded nameSource status
Eptesicus garambae J. A. Allen, 1917 J. A. Allen, 1917synonym
Eptesicus melckorum Roberts, 1919 Roberts, 1919synonym
Vespertilio capensis A. Smith, 1829 A. Smith, 1829synonym
Eptesicus capensis nkatiensis Roberts, 1932 Roberts, 1932synonym
Neoromicia capensis garambae (J. A. Allen, 1917) (J. A. Allen, 1917)synonym
Neoromicia capensis gracilior (Thomas & Schwann, 1905) (Thomas & Schwann, 1905)synonym
Neoromicia capensis notius (G. M. Allen, 1908) (G. M. Allen, 1908)synonym
Vespertilio capensis gracilior Thomas & Schwann, 1905 Thomas & Schwann, 1905synonym
Eptesicus capensis (A. Smith, 1829) (A. Smith, 1829)synonym
Neoromicia capensis (A. Smith, 1829) (A. Smith, 1829)synonym
Neoromicia melckorum (Roberts, 1919) (Roberts, 1919)synonym
Scabrifer notius G. M. Allen, 1908 G. M. Allen, 1908synonym
Vesperus damarensis Noack, 1889 Noack, 1889synonym
Neoromicia capensis capensis (A. Smith, 1829) (A. Smith, 1829)synonym
Neoromicia capensis damarensis (Noack, 1889) (Noack, 1889)synonym
Neoromicia capensis nkatiensis (Roberts, 1932) (Roberts, 1932)synonym

Documented distribution

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

Africa

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=1157447 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.

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:8LVF4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.