A New Name for the Mexican Red Bat
1951
A New Name for the Mexican Red Bat is a taxonomic detective story from the early days of mammalogy. E. Raymond Hall unravels a nomenclatural confusion that had plagued the classification of North American bats, demonstrating how a single misassigned name can ripple through decades of scientific understanding. The book meticulously traces how "A[talapha]. mexicana" came to be incorrectly associated with the Mexican red bat when it properly belonged to the hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus). By examining overlapping ranges in southern Mexico and comparing physical characteristics of related species within the family Vespertilionidae, Hall builds a precise case for his proposed subspecies designation, Lasiurus borealis ornatus. This work endures because it captures the painstaking rigor required to organize the natural world and the way scientific truth depends on exactitude. Essential reading for taxonomists, bat researchers, and anyone who marvels at the architecture of biological classification.
