Serotine bat
Eptesicus serotinus (Schreber, 1774)
The serotine bat (Eptesicus serotinus) is a bat in the family Vespertilionidae, order Chiroptera, class Mammalia. It is a small, nocturnal, aerial invertivore, with an adult body mass of 22.86 g and a wingspan of 34.1 cm.
Quick facts about the serotine bat
It has 1 litter per year after a gestation period of 66.72 days, with a representative value of 1.5 young per litter. Its lifespan is 12.5 years, with values up to 21 years reported, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, not an IUCN threatened category.
- Weight
- 18.2 g – 22.9 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 34.1 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 12.5 years – 21 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 66.7 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the serotine bat?
Where does the serotine bat live?
Not recorded
What is the serotine bat?
The serotine bat (Cnephaeus serotinus) (Formerly Eptesicus serotinus), also known as the common serotine bat, eurasian serotine, big brown bat, or silky bat, is a considerably large Eurasian bat with large ears. It has a wingspan of around 37 cm (15 in) and often hunts in woodland. It sometimes roosts in buildings, hanging upside down, in small groups or individually. The name serotine is derived from the Latin serotinus, which means 'evening', while the former generic name derives from Greek ἔπιεν and οίκος, which means 'house flyer'.
From the Wikipedia article “Serotine bat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Serotine_bat&oldid=1374844012), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the serotine bat sound like?
Is the serotine bat endangered?
The serotine bat is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the serotine bat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderChiroptera
- familyVespertilionidae
- genusEptesicus
- SpeciesEptesicus serotinus (Schreber, 1774)
Synonyms Cnephaeus serotinus, Eptesicus boscai, Eptesicus brachydigitus, Eptesicus coreensis, Eptesicus hottentotus, Eptesicus incisivus, Eptesicus insularis, Eptesicus intermedius, Eptesicus isabellinus, Eptesicus kuhlii, Eptesicus meridionalis, Eptesicus okenii, Eptesicus rufescens, Eptesicus serotinus brachydigitus, Eptesicus transylvanus, Eptesicus typus, Eptesicus wiedii, Fespertilio serotinus
Other names and names in other languages (16)
- Big brown batEnglish
- Common serotineEnglish
- Common serotineEnglish
- Eurasian serotineEnglish
- SerotineEnglish
- SerotineEnglish
- Serotine, common serotineEnglish
- Silky batEnglish
- Ystlum Adain-LydanWelsh
- Ystlumod Adain-LydanWelsh
- SydflagermusDanish
- BreitflügelfledermausGerman
- etelänlepakkoFinnish
- Sérotine communeFrench
- sørflaggermusNorwegian Bokmål
- laatvliegerDutch
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaTAXREFTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the serotine bat
Other species in the same genus Eptesicus.
Northern bat
Eptesicus nilssonii
Big brown bat
Eptesicus fuscus
Botta's serotine
Eptesicus bottae
Gobi serotine
Eptesicus gobiensis
Argentine serotine
Eptesicus furinalis
Brazilian serotine
Eptesicus brasiliensis
CompareSerotine bat vs Northern batSerotine bat vs Big brown batSerotine bat vs Botta's serotineSerotine bat vs Gobi serotine
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the serotine bat?
The serotine bat is a mammal, a bat in the family Vespertilionidae and the order Chiroptera.
How big is the serotine bat?
It is a small bat with an adult body mass of 22.86 g and a wingspan of 34.1 cm.
What does the serotine bat eat?
It is an invertivore, and its trophic level is carnivore. It is nocturnal and forages in the air.
How long does the serotine bat live?
Its lifespan is 12.5 years, and our sources report values up to 21 years.
How many young does the serotine bat have?
It has 1 litter per year, with a representative value of 1.5 young per litter, after a gestation period of 66.72 days.
Who named the serotine bat?
Its scientific name, Eptesicus serotinus, is attributed to (Schreber, 1774).
What other names does the serotine bat have?
Other English names are Serotine, Silky bat, Big brown bat, Common serotine and Eurasian serotine.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Serotine bat (Eptesicus serotinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/serotine-bat
“Serotine bat (Eptesicus serotinus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/serotine-bat.
@misc{serotine_bat_2026,
title = {Serotine bat (Eptesicus serotinus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/serotine-bat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}