Bats of British Columbia

by Cori Lausen, Mark Brigham, David Nagorsen, Jared Hobbs (Photographer)

Overview

A full-colour, fully updated field guide to identifying British Columbia's bats, with new material on acoustic identification.

With more than 1,400 species worldwide, bats live on every continent except Antarctica and in virtually every type of habitat, from desert to forest. Around the globe, bats fill important ecological roles by controlling insect populations, pollinating plants, dispersing seeds, and even providing humans with medicines—the saliva of the famous vampire bat can be used to treat strokes! Yet despite their importance to the planet’s ecosystems, there remains more misinformation than fact and more fear than respect for these diminutive guardians of the night.

Since the first edition of Bats of British Columbia was published in 1993, an explosion in field studies of the province’s bat fauna, applying new tools such as genetic techniques and acoustic bat detectors, has added a wealth of new knowledge. This fully updated second edition includes new colour photographs throughout, with new material on acoustic identification. With in-depth information on biology, conservation, ecology, and identification of the 18 species found in the province, the new Bats of British Columbia will help create an appreciation of this fascinating group of mammals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780772679932
Publisher:	The Royal British Columbia Museum
Publication date:	03/25/2022
Series:	Royal BC Museum Handbook
Edition description:	Second edition
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Cori Lausenis a biologist and director of bat conservation with Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, leading a comprehensive research and conservation bat program in western Canada. She has taught biologists across North America the fundamentals of bat acoustics and using bat detectors for species identification. She helped design and is on the core continental committee of the North American Bat Monitoring Program, and she implements its monitoring in British Columbia.

David Nagorsen is a research associate at the Royal BC Museum and the Royal Ontario Museum. With more than 30 years' experience as a biologist carrying out research, fieldwork, endangered species conservation and public education, he has worked as a mammalogist and wildlife consultant, and he has authored or co-authored four handbooks on British Columbia's mammals.

Mark Brigham is a professor of biology at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, where he researches the behaviour and ecology of bats and nightjars. In 2006, he received the Gerrit S. Miller Jr. Award from the North American Society of Bat Research for lifetime contributions.

Jared Hobbs is a registered professional biologist and wildlife photographer who has worked for 25 years throughout British Columbia on many of the province's rarest species. His images have been published in Canadian Geographic and British Columbia Magazine, and by government agencies and environmental groups.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Introduction 1

Origins and Classification 2

Taxonomy and Nomenclature 4

What Is a Species? 6

Checklist of BC Bats 8

Bats in BC 9

General Biology 13

Morphology 13

The Nubby-Ear Mystery 18

Using Sound to Locate Prey and Navigate in the Dark 22

Food and Water 24

Reproduction, Young and Longevity 28

Torpor and Roost Selection 32

Summer Roosting Sites 36

Hibernation and Winter Ecology 45

Winter Roosting Sites (Hibernacula) 51

Disease and Bats 52

Conservation and Threats 57

Two Provincial Designations-Not Enough to Protect Bat Habitat 65

Collisions with Cars 69

Studying Bats 73

Identifying BC's Bats 91

In-Hand Differentiation 92

Acoustics-Echolocation and Species Identification 103

Species Accounts 129

Pallid Bat 135

Townsend's Big-Eared Bat 147

Big Brown Bat 159

Spotted Bat 169

Eastern Red Bat 179

Hoary Bat 187

Silver-Haired Bat 197

Californian Myotis 207

Long-Eared Myotis 217

Little Brown Myotis 227

Dark-Nosed Small-Footed Myotis 239

Northern Myotis 247

Fringed Myotis 255

Long-Legged Myotis 263

Yuma Myotis 271

Accidental Species 283

Brazilian Free-Tailed Bat 285

Big Free-Tailed Bat 291

Canyon Bat 295

Acknowledgements 299

Appendix 1 Other Species Referred to in Text 301

Appendix 2 Key to Skulls and Dental Traits of BC Bats 302

Appendix 3 Reference Table for Species Morphology 308

Appendix 4 Acoustic Species Summary Table 311

Appendix 5 Fun Bat Facts 318

Glossary 321

References 331

Index 355

About the Authors 373