# Whiskered bat (*Myotis mystacinus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/whiskered-bat  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The whiskered bat (Myotis mystacinus) is a bat in the family Vespertilionidae, order Chiroptera, within the class Mammalia. It is a tiny bat with an adult body mass of 4.99 g, up to 5.3 g, and a wingspan of 21.3 cm. This nocturnal, aerial invertivore has one young per litter and one litter per year, reaching sexual maturity at 1.1 years. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 4.99 g – 5.3 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 21.3 cm |
| Lifespan | 11.5 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 24 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months – 15 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Active | At night (nocturnal) |
| Lifestyle | Aerial |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Chiroptera
- family: Vespertilionidae
- genus: Myotis
- species: *Myotis mystacinus* (Kuhl, 1817)

Synonyms: *Myotis bulgaricus*, *Myotis collaris*, *Myotis humeralis*, *Myotis lugubris*, *Myotis nigrofuscus*, *Myotis rufofuscus*, *Myotis schinzii*, *Myotis schrankii*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the whiskered bat?

The whiskered bat is a mammal, a bat in the family Vespertilionidae and the order Chiroptera.

### How big is the whiskered bat?

It is a tiny bat with an adult body mass of 4.99 g, up to 5.3 g, and a wingspan of 21.3 cm.

### What does the whiskered bat eat?

The whiskered bat is an invertivore, placed at the carnivore trophic level, and forages in the air.

### Is the whiskered bat endangered?

No. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the whiskered bat live?

Its lifespan is 11.5 years, with values up to 24 years reported by sources.

### How many young does the whiskered bat have?

It has 1 young per litter and 1 litter per year, reaching sexual maturity at from 1.0 to 1.2 years of age.

### Who named the whiskered bat?

Myotis mystacinus was named by Kuhl in 1817, written as (Kuhl, 1817).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Whiskered bat (Myotis mystacinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/whiskered-bat