Greater mouse-eared bat

Description

With a snout-vent length between 6.7 and 8.4 cm and a wingspan between 35 and 43 cm, the greater mouse-eared bat is the largest European species of Myotis. An adult weighs between 28 and 40 g. The greater mouse-eared bat has a very short and broad snout, the ears are long and wide. The short fur of adults is blackish-brown at the hair roots and light brownish-grey on the upperpart. The belly is white-grey, the neck sometimes slightly yellowish. Juveniles are more grey than brownish. The snout, ears and wings are grey-brown. In contrast to the adult greater mouse-eared bat, the lesser mouse-eared bat is dark grey in colour, and its body measurements are usually smaller than those of the greater mouse-eared bat. The number of ear folds (7-8 in the greater mouse-eared bat, 5-6 in the lesser mouse-eared) is also a distinguishing feature.

Habitat

The habitat of the greater mouse-eared bat is mainly open terrain, such as meadows, fields and open woodland, but also human settlements. Summer habitats are in roof trusses and church towers, also in bridges. The animals hang freely here. 

When foraging, they like to fly between trees at low (1-2 m above the ground) and medium altitudes, listening to the rustling sounds of prey running on the ground (passive detection). The sense of smell probably also plays a greater role in finding prey, with echolocation taking a back seat. The animals are also capable of so-called shaking flight for a short period of time. 4 to 17 km can lie between the roost and the hunting habitat. The main food is ground-dwelling arthropods, especially large ground beetles (Carabus), arachnids (Arachnida) and centipedes (Chilopoda).

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Großes_Mausohr). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 18 August 2021