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PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
Series 4, Volume 65, Supplement I 
tion in species that regularly aggregate in caves and mines than species that apparently do not. 
Below we summarize and highlight features that have emerged from each of our major review 
topics. 
Conservation Status. — International status designations by the International Union for the 
Conservation of Nature and NatureServe are less inclusive of the species of concern than designa¬ 
tions by federal and state agencies within the U.S., in part because these organizations may con¬ 
sider the full range of species distributions beyond the U.S. borders, may rely on different catego¬ 
ry definitions, or in part may rely on opinions of different experts. The International Union for the 
Conservation of Nature designated the red fruit bat as “Vulnerable” and two species were placed 
in the lesser category “Near Threatened” (the Samoan flying fox and the Mexican long-tongued 
bat); the other 17 species were designated as “Least Concern”. NatureServe regards three of the 18 
species within the contiguous U.S. as “Vulnerable” (Rafinesque’s big-eared bats, California leaf¬ 
nosed bat, and Mexican long-tongued bat). The other 15 species are regarded as “Secure” or 
“Apparently Secure”, but subspecies of two of these are designated as “Critically Imperiled” 
(Myotis yumanensis oxalis, M. thysanodes pahasapensis, M. t. vespertinus). As noted in the species 
accounts of these two species, the validity of these subspecies designations has not been investi¬ 
gated with modem genetic approaches. 
National status designations by federal agencies are variable for the species of concern. The 
U.S. Forest Service applies “Sensitive Species” status largely by administrative region, as does the 
Bureau of Land Management (by state office), and some species may be designated as sensitive in 
some regions or states but not others. Details are available at those agencies. The U.S. Forest Serv¬ 
ice regards at least 10 of the species of concern as Sensitive Species (including the red fruit bat in 
Puerto Rico). The Bureau of Land Management designates 14 species of concern as Sensitive, all 
in western states, but species designations vary among state offices. 
Many states have designated the bats described in this volume as having special status. One of 
the facilitating mechanisms for these designations stems from the federal Wildlife Conservation 
and Restoration and State Wildlife Grants programs defined by the U.S. Congress under legislation 
enacted in the year 2000 (114 Stat. 2762A-118 Public Law 106-553—Appendix B; see U.S. Gov¬ 
ernment Printing Office, 2000). The law made funding available to the states and territories for 
wildlife conservation, provided that each state develop a State Wildlife Action Plan. Elements 
required under each plan result in identification of “species of greatest conservation need”. Most 
of the state designations that we compiled fall under that category as a result of this requirement 
for access to federal funding, but may also include special designations under separate state laws. 
Forty-five of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa, give 
special status to one or more (up to 13) species discussed in this volume. The remaining five states 
(Hawaii, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) and some of the other territories include 
species of bats that are considered endangered or threatened under federal law. Concern about the 
status of bats is widespread throughout the U.S. 
The number of states with special status designations for each species of concern varies by the 
distribution of each species and by overall bat diversity. Species with widespread distributions have 
such designations in greater numbers of states (for example, the eastern small-footed myotis is des¬ 
ignated with special status by 25 states and the District of Columbia, Rafinesque’s big-eared bat by 
19 states, the southeastern myotis by 17 states, and Townsend’s big-eared bat by 16 states). Species 
with more-limited distributions are designated with special status by fewer states (for example, 
Underwood’s bonneted bat is only recognized with special status by Arizona, and the California 
leaf-nosed bat, Mexican long-tongued bat, and Arizona myotis have special status in three states). 
Some species are not designated as special status throughout their distributions across state bound- 
