O’SHEA, CRYAN & BOGAN: UNITED STATES BAT SPECIES OF CONCERN 
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hibernation typically reach 10-12 g or lower (Twente, 1955a; Caire and Loucks, 2010). Pelage col¬ 
oration varies from light to very dark brown. The nose is less pointed than in some other species 
of Myotis, and the ears reach only to the tip of the nose when laid forward. The area between the 
scapulae is typically bare or very sparsely haired. 
Distribution and Systematics. — In the United States, the cave myotis is primarily a low¬ 
land species found from southern Kansas to western Texas and southern New Mexico, west to 
southern Nevada and southeastern California (Fig. 34; Fitch et al., 1981). Five subspecies were list¬ 
ed by Simmons (2005), and the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (2017): M. velifer bre¬ 
vis, M. v. grandis, M. v. incautus, M. v. magnamolaris, and M. v. velifer. However, Dalquest and 
Stangl (1984) provided evidence that M. v. grandis is a synonym of M. v. magnamolaris, and Hay¬ 
ward (1970) and Hoffmeister (1986) considered M. v. brevis a synonym of M. v. velifer. An addi¬ 
tional subspecies, Myotis v. peninsularis, was recently designated by Najera-Cortazar et al. (2015). 
M. v. incautus is found in extreme southeastern New Mexico, southern Texas, and northeastern 
Mexico. M. v. magnamolaris (and synonymous M. v. grandis) occurs in southern Kansas, western 
Oklahoma, and northern Texas. M. v. velifer occurs in extreme southern Nevada, in California 
along the Colorado River, and from central and southern Arizona and extreme southwestern New 
Mexico southward to Honduras (Fitch et al., 1981). Myotis v. peninsularis is found in lower Baja 
California, Mexico (Najera-Cortazar et al., 2015). Recent molecular genetic research suggests sup¬ 
port for fewer subspecies designations (Parlos, 2008). Fitch et al. (1981) provided a synonymy of 
past scientific names applied to the cave myotis. 
Harris (1974) speculated that the absence of M. velifer from the Rio Grande Valley in New 
Mexico and extreme western Texas may be due to historical competition with the Arizona myotis. 
Mitochondrial DNA characteristics for this species are available (for example, Zinck et al., 2004). 
Other common names used in earlier literature include house bat, cave bat, and Mexican brown bat. 
Habitats and Relative Abundance. — Cave myotis are typically found in the lower west¬ 
ern Great Plains and at lower, warmer elevations in the southwestern U.S. Relative abundances are 
biased by distance from colony sites, and unless roosting aggregations are near sampling points, 
they often rank low in relative abundance. This species has been described as abundant and wide¬ 
spread in parts of Mexico during the recent past (Jones et al., 1972). 
Southwestern U.S. and Great Plains: Arizona: In Arizona, cave myotis occur most com¬ 
monly in desert areas (Hoffmeister, 1986). Habitats in Arizona can be typically characterized by 
Sonoran desert vegetation with roosts often within a few kilometers of water, whereas the few win¬ 
ter records are in higher elevation forested areas (Hayward, 1970). In the Huachuca Mountains of 
southeastern Arizona, summer habitats include low deserts up through oak and pine-oak woodlands 
(Hoffmeister and Goodpaster, 1954). A mist-netting survey in five riparian canyons in the Huachu¬ 
ca Mountains in 1993 and 1994 found them to rank third in relative abundance among 13 species 
documented (17 captures out of 145 individuals; Sidner and Davis, 1994). They ranked just tenth 
in relative abundance (five bats among 353 individuals of 15 species) in ponderosa pine forests at 
1,350 to 1,930 meters elevation along the East Verde River below the Mogollon Rim, on the Tonto 
National Forest in central Arizona (Lutch, 1996). Although 1,342 individuals were banded at six 
roosts in Mohave County Arizona during 1959-1964, only one was captured in mist nets set over 
water at multiple locations in the same county, despite captures of 3,458 individuals of 17 other 
species during the same period (Cockrum et al., 1996). They ranked lowest in relative abundance 
(1 taken among 1,441 individuals of 14 species) captured in combined low severity and high sever¬ 
ity burn areas (two and three years post-fire) in ponderosa pine forest at 2,345 to 2,686 meters ele¬ 
vation in the Apache-Sitgraves National Forests in east-central Arizona (Saunders, 2015). 
New Mexico: Findley et al. (1975) characterized cave myotis in New Mexico as a desert and 
