The Late Miocene site of Gritsev (MN 9, Ukraine) has yielded a very rich bat fauna, the remains of which are well preserved. Compared to other Neogene bat assemblages of Europe, the Gritsev bat community is unique in preserving plecotine bats, which are rare from Neogene sites. Some peculiar and new bat species, including a large plecotin Otonycteris, already were described from the Gritsev mammal site. Here we report new records of small plecotin bats from Gritsev, including a new taxon, Barbastella maxima nov. sp. This is the earliest reliable fossil record of this genus and it differs from more recent species of Barbastella in being considerably larger. The evolutionary patterns in the odontology within the tribe Plecotini, supported by biostratigraphical distribution of fossil records of Plecotus are discussed. The morphological peculiarities of the new fossils of plecotine bats from Gritsev are discussed in connection with its possible taxonomical affinity. 

A new species, Otonycteris rummeli nov. sp., is described from the Late Miocene site Gritsev (MN 9) in the Ukraine. Otonycteris rummeli nov. sp. differs from those of most vespertilionids, except recent Otonycteris, Antrozous and Early Miocene Karstala silva, in having a well-developed entocingulid at the foot of the trigonid valley in the lower molars. The morphological resemblance of Otonycteris, Antrozous and Karstala is apparently a case of convergence in the evolution of the Old and New Worlds bat faunas. From at least the Middle Miocene the range of Otonycteris distribution spread to the whole of Central Europe and such a situation continued during the whole Late Miocene. This indicates a more arid climate in Europe during the Upper Miocene compared to the Quaternary. The reduction of the distribution range of Otonycteris and its extinction in most of the territory of Europe could have been caused by the global climatic cooling and increasing glacial cycle amplitude during the onset of the Quaternary.