Noteworthy County Records for 14 Bat Species Based on Specimens Submitted to the Texas Department of State Health Services

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Bats submitted to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) for rabies testing have been useful for studying chiropteran distributions within the state. Over 10,000 rabiesnegative specimens were received by the DSHS for testing from 2004 to 2011 and the majority were identified using morphological features. We extracted tissues and prepared fluid-preserved vouchers from a subset of these specimens. Each specimen's location was compared to the known distribution of the species to determine new county records or range extensions. Species that had been documented from a county solely based on published literature (no known voucher specimens) were considered county records as well. Herein, we report on 14 species from 70 Texas counties. A total of 103 new county records (including seven range extensions) were documented including one phyllostomid (Choeronycteris mexicana), 12 vespertilionids of seven genera (Myotis, Lasiurus, Lasionycteris, Perimyotis, Eptesicus, Nycticeius, and Antrozous) and one molossid (Nyctinomops macrotis). Although the specimens in this study were not obtained by traditional methods, they document important occurrences of bat species in the state of Texas.