Texas mammals

Fringed Myotis in Texas

Myotis thysanodes

Native to Texas S3 Vulnerable in Texas

Not listed as nonindigenous in Texas by USGS NAS; native to its Texas range.

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Photo: calibas · CC0Fringed Myotis (Myotis thysanodes)Photo: colinpena · CC-BYFringed Myotis (Myotis thysanodes)Photo: mypubliclands · Public domainCluster of fringed myotis bats roosting on a cave ceilingPhoto: Juan Cruzado Cortés · CC BY-SA 4.0Fringed myotis clinging to tree bark at night

Fringed Myotis in Texas, by the numbers

Occasional in Texas 132nd most recorded of 197 mammals logged in Texas

59 occurrence records

6 with iNaturalist photos

Aug 1, 2022 Last seen in Texas

Records from 2000–2026.

59 total records count every Texas occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 55; the monthly chart covers the 55 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Fringed Myotis in Texas

Most sightings fall in May to June.

55 Texas occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Texas records (table)

Month	Records
January	1
February	0
March	1
April	5
May	10
June	15
July	8
August	7
September	2
October	6
November	0
December	0

Monthly fringed myotis occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Texas, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Texas, with recorded sightings peaking in May–June.

Occurrence map

Where Fringed Myotis has been recorded in Texas

55 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

55 Texas records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monument	iNaturalist records
Big Bend National Park	13
Black Gap Wildlife Management Area	2
Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area	1

Protected places with the most fringed myotis sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Texas

County	Records
Brewster County	32
Presidio County	9
Hudspeth County	7
Jeff Davis County	4
Culberson County	2
El Paso County	1
Other localities	4

The complete county distribution, spread across 6 Texas counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Fringed myotis records in Texas sit in the Trans-Pecos, with Big Bend, the Guadalupe Mountains, and the Davis Mountains anchoring the record set. This bat roosts in caves, mine shafts, and rock crevices in desert and woodland country, and it’s a slow, methodical hunter that gleans insects off vegetation rather than chasing them through open air.

May and June together hold 25 of the state’s 59 records, a pattern that likely tracks maternity-roost season and more warm-weather cave surveys rather than a true population swing. The most recent listed sighting was in August 2022.

NatureServe ranks it S3, Vulnerable, in Texas, a step below its G4, Apparently Secure, global standing, a reminder that even a wide-ranging bat can carry real state-level concern.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Full species profile Fringed Myotis Myotis thysanodes Size 5.4 cm2.1 in Weight 9 g0.3 oz Lifespan 18 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Texas in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"