Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A large, reddish-brown insectivorous bat of the genus Nyctalus, found in Eurasia, Indonesia, and the Philippines and typically dwelling in the hollows of trees.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A bat of the genus Noctilio or family Noctilionidæ.
- n. Vespertilio or Vesperugo noctula, the largest British species of bat, being nearly 3 inches long without the tail, which is fully 1½ inches. It is found chiefly in the south of England, and is seen on the wing during only a short part of the year, retiring early in autumn to hollow trees, caves, or under the eaves of buildings, where many are sometimes found together.
Wiktionary
- n. A bat, of the genus Nyctalus, that lives in tree hollows.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) A large European bat (Vespertilio altivolans syn. Noctulina altivolans).
Etymologies
- New Latin, from noctua ("owl") + -ulus ("diminutive") (Wiktionary)
- French, from Italian nottola, bat, owl, from Late Latin noctula, from Latin, diminutive of noctua, night owl. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“In 2001, Carlos Ibáñez and his colleagues at the Doñana Biological Station in Seville, Spain, suggested that the giant noctule bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus), a rare European species occurring principally in the Mediterranean, may feed to a large extent on birds (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98, 9700-9702).”
“To elucidate the mysterious habits of giant noctule bats, an ambitious investigation led by young scientist Ana Popa-Lisseanu, under Prof. Ibañez 'supervision, was launched by Spanish research teams based in Sevilla (Doñana Biological Station) and Granada (Zaidín Experimental Station) thanks to funding from the Spanish Environmental Ministry.”
“The unique ecological niche of the giant noctule may in turn explain some of its peculiar natural history traits.”
“In the case of giant noctule bats, it was for sure the description by Ibañez et al. (2001) of a so far totally unrecognized, outstanding predator-prey relationship that triggered so much initial scepticism.”
“The extraordinary predatory specialization of the giant noctule may be shared by the few other big aerial-hawking bat species which exist elsewhere in the world.”
“They eat relatively large prey, being particularly fond of beetles, and Nowak (1999) mentions a remarkable case where a Eurasian noctule (N. noctula) was observed to catch and eat mice.”
“The excellent Greater noctule photo used above is from the Slovak Academy of Science site.”
“Carnivory in the greater noctule bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus) in Italy.”
“Greater noctule wing morphology indicates fast flight in open areas, as they have high wing loading and high aspect ratios.”
“A contribution to debate on Great noctule carnivory.”
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