Short-eared Bat

About the Short-eared Bat

The short-eared bat (Cyttarops alecto) is a bat species found in Brazil, Costa Rica, Guyana and Nicaragua. It is the only species within its genus. The short-eared bat is a dark-colored sac-winged bat, similar in appearance to Saccopteryx or Peropteryx, but differentiated by its long, silky fur, low rounded ears, expanded clavicles, grooved tibia, and cranial frontal cup. Forearms range from 46 to 47 millimetres (1.8 to 1.9 in) long. Skull length ranges from 13 to 14 millimetres (0.51 to 0.55 in). Females tend to be somewhat larger than males. As with all emballonurid bats, short-eared bats use a type of echolocation call that consists of a central, narrowband component and one or two short, frequency-modulated sweeps. All calls are multi-harmonic with most energy concentrated in the second harmonic.

The currently known range of this species extends from the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica through Guyana to the state of Pará, Brazil, and it has never been found in elevations below 300 metres (980 ft). The exact population size of the short-eared bat is unknown, but this is one of the rarest Neotropical bats, known from fewer than twenty... Wikipedia →