Barbastella

Barbastella is a genus of vespertilionid bats. There are seven extant species in this genus and one only known from fossil remains. It literally means "starbeard", and comes from the Latin words , 'beard', and , 'star', referring to the clusters of stiff hairs that some bats of this genus have around their nostrils, which may resemble a beard or, perhaps, the arrangement of the rays of a star. Furthermore, the Italian term is common for bats in northeastern Italy, especially in Ferrara and Bologna; this regional use of Italian could have influenced or been related to the choice of the scientific name. is also believed to have originated from the Latin , the classical word for 'bat'.

==Species== The genus consists of the following species: Barbastella barbastellus (Western barbastelle); Barbastella beijingensis (Beijing barbastelle); Barbastella caspica (Caspian barbastelle); Barbastella darjelingensis (Eastern barbastelle or Asian barbastelle); Barbastella leucomelas (Arabian barbastelle); Barbastella pacifica (Japanese barbastelle); Barbastella maxima (An extinct barbastelle discovered in 2019 in Gritsev, Ukraine).