Transmitted 20 Degrees Off Crossed Linear Polarized Light
Definition/Function:
This hair belongs to the Order Chiroptera, Bats. This is a very large Order with
about 1,100 speces.
Significance in the Environment:
The presence of these hairs in an indoor sample indicates a possible attic infestation.
Characteristic Features:
Bat hair is around 10 micrometers wide from the root to near the tip. It has an
indistinct medulla (none visible). The cuticle pattern is
simple coronal. The scale count is about 8 per 100 micrometers. Bat hair has a
refractive index along its length of about 1.56 and perpendicular to its length of about
1.55.
It has a birefringence of about 0.01 and a positive sign of elongation.
Associated Particles:
References:
References with Photographs and/or Drawings
Hausman, Leon Augustus, "Structural charactreistics of the hair of mammals", THE
AMERICAN NATURALIST, vol. 54, no. 635, pp.496-523,
Hausman, Leon Augustus, "Recent studies of hair structure relationships", THE SCIENTIFIC
MONTHLY, pp. 258-277,
Glaister, John, A STUDY OF HAIRS AND WOOLS, Misr Press, Cairo, 1931.
FBI site for Animal Hair Identification:
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/backissu/july2004/research/2004_03_research02.htm
Keys Only
Mayer, William V., "The hair of California mammals with keys to the dorsal guard hairs
of California mammals", THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST,
vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 480-512, 1952.
Stains, Howard J., "Field key to guard hair of middle western furbearers", JOURNAL OF
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT, vol. 22, no.1, pp. 95-97, January, 1958.
Mathiak, Harold A., "A key to hairs of the mammals of southern Michigan", JOURNAL OF
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 251-268, October, 1938.
