science · 22 June 1937 · 87 years ago
In 1937, a certain female little brown bat in Mashpee, Mass., was banded by researchers. The same bat was found two decades later, on 30 Apr 1960, in a cave on Mt. Aeolis, Vermont. It was identified from the band as 24 years old - the oldest known U.S. bat. The little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) has a wing span of 222-269 mm with glossy fur on its back and paler underside colours ranging from pale tan to dark brown. The species is the most abundant bat in the U.S., found throughout forests of North America and Alaska, in tree or cliff cavities, caves, mines and attics. On 25 Aug 1999, a newspaper reported a 33-yr-old wild bat in Switzerland. On 20 Jun 2005, a journal received an article identifying a 41-yr-old bat in Siberia.
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