Illustrated key to skins and skulls of bats in the southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states /

Abstract

In teaching students and technicians how to identify the skins and skulls of southeastern bats in the field and laboratory, it was necessary to develop an illustrated key that makes identification both easy and reliable. Many of the existing keys are poorly illustrated, include bat species that are not applicable, and/or contain univariate discriminatory measurements that can result in inaccurate identifications. We constructed a key that allows users to easily and accurately identify the skin and skulls of 17 bat species that inhabit the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions (north of central Florida and east of the Mississippi River).