Mystacina

{{Short description|Genus of bats}}

{{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2024}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = MystacinaTuberculataFord.jpg

| image_caption = New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat, (Mystacina tuberculata)

| fossil_range = Miocene – Recent
{{fossilrange|19|recent|earliest=51}}

| taxon = Mystacina

| authority = Gray in Dieffenbach, 1843

| type_species = Mystacina tuberculata

| type_species_authority = Gray, 1843

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = *M. tuberculata

• †M. miocenalis
• M. robusta

}}

Mystacina is the sole surviving genus of the Mystacinidae family of bats. It has three known species, of which only the New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) is confirmed to survive today.{{Cite book |last=King |first=Carolyn |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q134593160 |title=New Zealand's Native Mammals: When and where to see them |date=2024-01-01 |isbn=978-1-77694-069-1 |pages=24 |language=English}} The closely related New Zealand greater short-tailed bat (Mystacina robusta) has not had a confirmed sighting since 1965 and is thought to be extinct.{{Cite journal|last=Blackburn|title=Muttonbird islands diary |journal=Notornis |date=1965 |volume=12 |issue=4|pages=191–207}} The third species, Mystacina miocenalis, is known from the Middle Miocene, some 19–16 million years ago.{{cite journal |last1=Hand |first1=S.J. |title=Miocene Fossils Reveal Ancient Roots for New Zealand's Endemic Mystacina (Chiroptera) and Its Rainforest Habitat |journal=PLOS ONE |date=2015 |volume=10 |issue=6 |pages=e0128871 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0128871 |pmid=26083758 |pmc=4470663 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1028871H |doi-access=free }}{{cite web |last1=Thompson |first1=Helen |title=16 Million Years Ago This Giant Bat Walked the Jungles of New Zealand |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/found-fossil-walking-bat-new-zealand-180955672/ |website=Smithsonian}}