Common Oak vs Harmless Serotine

Quercus robur compared with Eptesicus innoxius

Key Differences

• Common Oak is Least Concern while Harmless Serotine is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Oak	Harmless Serotine
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Fagales (Beeches & Oaks)	Chiroptera (Bats)
Family	Fagaceae (Beech Family)	Vespertilionidae
Genus	Quercus (Oaks)	Eptesicus
Species	Quercus robur	Eptesicus innoxius

Conservation Status

Common Oak

LC — Least Concern

Trend: Stable →

Harmless Serotine

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Oak	Harmless Serotine
Diet	Autotroph	—
Average Lifespan	1000 years	—
Average Length	25.0 m	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Oak

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Lesotho, South Africa), Asia (Armenia, India), Europe (8 countries), North America (Canada, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, New Zealand), and South America (4 countries).

Harmless Serotine

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Found in Ecuador. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Common Oak

One of Europe's most important and widespread deciduous trees, the pedunculate oak can live over 1,000 years, reach 40 meters, and support the greatest biodiversity of any European tree species — over 2,300 species of insects, fungi, lichens, mosses, and birds directly depend on mature oaks. Found across Europe to western Asia in temperate forests, its hard, durable wood has been foundational to shipbuilding, architecture, and barrel making throughout history.