Abstract
The oldest nomenclatural history of the lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) is summarised and discussed. Our search of literature showed that the author of the species name Rhinolophus hipposideros is André (1797); in the work Der Zoologe, oder Compendiöse Bibliothek des wissenswürdigsten aus der Thiergeschichte und allgemeinen Naturkunde published by 19 April 1797, André (1797: 65) used the name Noctilio Hipposideros and labelled it with "mihi".
André's (1797) work takes priority over Deutsche Fauna oder kurzgefaßte Naturgeschichte der Thiere Deutschlands by Borkhausen (1797) to which the creation of the name Noctilio Hipposideros has been attributed; the publication date of the latter work for the purposes of zoological nomenclature is 30 September 1797. Revised dating is provided for the second volume of Bechstein's translation of Pennant's History of Quadrupeds to which the description of Rhinolophus hipposideros was also formerly assigned: Thomas Pennant's allgemeine Uebersicht der vierfüßigen Thiere.
It is shown to be published by 6 October 1799, although the book bears a title-page date 1800.