{{Short description|Genus of bats}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Miocene|Recent}} | image = | image_caption = | taxon = Ia | authority = Thomas, 1902<ref name="Thomas">{{cite journal|last1=Thomas|first1=Oldfield|author-link1=Oldfield Thomas|title=On Two new Mammals from China|journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History|date=1902|volume=10|issue=56|pages=164–166|doi=10.1080/00222930208678653|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/19338964|series=7}}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *{{extinct}}''Ia lanna'' <small>Mien & Ginsburg, 1997<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mien |first1=Pierre |last2=Ginsburg |first2=Léonard |title=Les mammifères du gisement miocène inférieur de Li Mae Long, Thaïlande: systématique, biostratigraphie et paléoenvironnement |journal=Geodiversitas |date=1997 |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=783–844 |url=http://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/g1997n4a4.pdf |language=fr}}</ref></small> *''Ia io'' <small>Thomas, 1902</small><ref name="Thomas"/> |type_species=''Ia io'' |type_species_authority=Thomas, 1902 |synonyms_ref=<ref>{{MSW3 Simmons|id=13802241|page=492}}</ref> |synonyms={{genus list|Parascotomanes|Bourret, 1942}} }}
'''''Ia''''' is a genus of bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It belongs to the subfamily Vespertilioninae and has been placed in the tribe Vespertilionini. In the past, it has also been considered a synonym or subgenus of the genera ''Pipistrellus'' or ''Eptesicus'',<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Thabah | first1 = A. | last2 = Li | first2 = G. | last3 = Wang | first3 = Y. | last4 = Liang | first4 = B. | last5 = Hu | first5 = K. | last6 = Zhang | first6 = S. | last7 = Jones | first7 = G. | doi = 10.1644/06-MAMM-A-167R1.1 | title = Diet, echolocation calls, and phylogenetic affinities of the great evening bat (''Ia io''; Vespertilionidae): Another carnivorous bat | journal = Journal of Mammalogy | volume = 88 | issue = 3 | pages = 728–735 | year = 2007 | doi-access = free }}</ref> which used to contain many more species than they do now. ''Ia'' comprises a single living species, the great evening bat (''I. io'') of eastern and southeastern Asia, and one extinct fossil species, ''I. lanna'', from the Miocene epoch in Thailand. Another living species, ''I. longimana'', was recognized in the past, but it is no longer considered a valid species distinct from the great evening bat.
At two letters, ''Ia'' ties the bat-like dinosaur ''Yi'' and the butterfly ''Ge'' for the shortest possible name of any animal genus under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.<ref>International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature. 1999. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Art. 11.8. Online at http://www.iczn.org/iczn/index.jsp {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090524144249/http://www.iczn.org/iczn/index.jsp |date=2009-05-24 }}</ref>{{Original research inline|date=July 2020|reason=ICZN just says shortest possible genus name is two letters doesn't specifically mention Ia or Yi.}}
==Notes== {{Commons category}} {{Wikispecies|Ia|''Ia''}} {{Reflist}}
{{Vespertilionidae|V.|V.}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q1095545}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ia (Genus)}} Category:Vespertilionidae Category:Bat genera Category:Mammal genera with one living species Category:Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas