Myotinae is one of the four subfamilies of Vespertilionidae, itself one of twenty families of bats in the mammalian order Chiroptera and part of the microbat suborder. A member of this subfamily is called a myotine, or a mouse-eared bat. They are found in all continents besides Antarctica, primarily in forests and caves, though some species can also be found in shrublands, grasslands, rocky areas, or deserts. They range in size from the Taiwan broad-muzzled bat, at plus a tail, to the large myotis, at plus a tail. Like all bats, myotines are capable of true and sustained flight, and have forearm lengths ranging from to . They are all insectivorous and eat a variety of insects and spiders, but some bats with long toes which trawl for insects on top of the water, such as the long-fingered bat Daubenton's bat, Maluku myotis, Rickett's big-footed bat, and pond bat, may sometimes supplement their diet with small fish from still waters. The fish-eating bat also regularly eats fish and crustaceans as well as insects, and is the only bat species that hunts fish in the ocean. Almost no myotines have population estimates, though six species—the Atacama myotis, eastern small-footed myotis, Findley's myotis, flat-headed myotis, frosted myotis, and little brown bat—are categorized as endangered species, and two species—the Nimba myotis and Yanbaru whiskered bat—are categorized as critically endangered.

The 147 extant species of Myotinae are divided between three genera: Eudiscopus with one species, Submyotodon with three, and Myotis, or the mouse-eared bats, with the other 143. A few extinct prehistoric myotine species have been discovered, though due to ongoing research and discoveries the exact number and categorization is not fixed.

Conventions

The author citation for the species or genus is given after the scientific name; parentheses around the author citation indicate that this was not the original taxonomic placement. Conservation status codes listed follow the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the myotine's range is provided. Ranges are based on the IUCN Red List for that species unless otherwise noted. Population figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.

Classification Myotinae, one of the four subfamilies of the family Vespertilionidae, contains 147 extant species divided into 3 genera.

Subfamily Myotinae Genus Eudiscopus (disk-footed bat): one species Genus Myotis (mouse-eared bats): 143 species Genus Submyotodon (broad-muzzled bats): three species

Myotines The following classification is based on the taxonomy described by the reference work Mammal Species of the World (2005), with augmentation by generally accepted proposals made since using molecular phylogenetic analysis, as supported by both the IUCN SSC Bat Specialist Group and the American Society of Mammalogists.

References Nowak, pp. 184–186

Wilson, Reeder, pp. 499–518

Chernasky; Motis; Burgin, pp. 556–557 Chernasky; Motis; Burgin, pp. 558–559 Chernasky; Motis; Burgin, pp. 560–561 Chernasky; Motis; Burgin, pp. 562–563 Chernasky; Motis; Burgin, pp. 564–565

Sources