Corynorhinus Townsendii Case Study

The organism under examination in this study is known by its common name as Townsend’s big-eared bat, or by its scientific name as Corynorhinus townsendii. The organism was first described by Cooper in 1837. One interesting note about the taxonomic history of the organism is that even with current studies, its relation to other genera within the tribe Plecotini is still indeterminate. The result of this uncertainty is myriad combinations of potential synonymization of closely related genera within the tribe. Despite this ambiguity, the genus Corynorhinus comprises one of the crucial genera in the tribe Plecotini (Handley et al., 1959).
C. townsendii prefers temperate, terrestrial systems and can be found anywhere from 457–2,743 meters above
Human initiative to halt the disturbances of C. townsendii’s natural habitat, as well as restrictions on hunting activity are believed to have alleviated population decline. With time, populations of C. townsendii were allowed to recover from endangered numbers, reaching vulnerable (VU) by 1996, and continuing to grow at a steady increase following that stabilization phase. The current status of Corynorhinus townsendii is least concern (LC), or stable. Thus, it has been found that the minimization of human disturbances and impact on its natural habitat is essential for the survival of C. townsendii (Nowak
Thus, the phylogeny of the genera within the tribe Plecotini has been found to be indeterminate; there is still uncertainty in discerning whether or not the sister genera of Corynorhinus are truly members of the tribe Plecotini (Roerhs et al., 2010). As a result, the taxa which comprise the tribe Plecotini have not been stable over time. The essential genera of the tribe Plecotini are the following: Barbastella, Corynorhinus, Euderma, Idionycteris, and Plecotus (Handley et al., 1959). The remaining components of the Plecotini tribe are uncertain, and change from study to study. Despite this uncertainty, the tribe has consistently been found to belong within the subfamily Vespertilioninae since it was first described by Gray in 1866. With respect to species within the genus, the data supports the placement of Corynorhinus townsendii as sister taxon to Corynorhinus mexicanus, with Corynorhinus rafinesquii more distantly related (Roerhs et al., 2010). In terms of genera within the family, the data suggests that Corynorhinus is sister taxon to Lasiurus, with other genera more distantly related (Roerhs et al., 2010). And lastly, the data from the study is in accordance with the current hypothesis. The results propose that the entire Vespertilionidae family is a