#0111 · 🦊 mammals
Lesser Horseshoe Bat
🇳🇱 Kleine Hoefijzerneus ·Rhinolophus hipposideros
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Max Kindler · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 2. © Ján Svetlík · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 3. © faluke · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Jessica · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 5. © Jessica · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 6. © Max Kindler · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 7. Bratislavský, SK:© Radovan Bednár · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. Subcarpathian, PL:© Światopelk Smoczyński · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. Viterbo, Lazio, IT:© Leonardo Ancillotto · CC BY 4.0
- 10. Pays de la Loire, FR:© emmagougeon53 · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The lesser horseshoe bat ( Rhinolophus hipposideros ), is a type of European bat related to but smaller than its cousin, the greater horseshoe bat. The species gets its name from its distinctive horseshoe-shaped nose.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 3,748 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1800 (226 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Lesser Horseshoe Bat
- Nederlands
- Kleine Hoefijzerneus
- scientific name
- Rhinolophus hipposideros
- class
- Mammalia
- order
- Chiroptera
- family
- Rhinolophidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings in Europe
- 2,832
- sightings worldwide
- 3,748
- GBIF records in NL
- 224
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1800 by Johann Matthäus Bechstein
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Rhinolophidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 40695, Wikidata Q585476, GBIF 2432614, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.