Northern Yellow-shouldered Bat

About the Northern Yellow-shouldered Bat

The little yellow-shouldered Mesoamerican bat (Sturnira parvidens) is a species of leaf-nosed bat found in Mexico and Central America. It was described as a subspecies of the little yellow-shouldered bat (Sturnira lilium) in 1917 by American zoologist Edward Alphonso Goldman and given the trinomen S. lilium parvidens. The holotype had been collected in 1903 by Goldman and Edward William Nelson at "Papayo", given as 40 km (25 mi) northwest of Acapulco, Mexico. The species name "parvidens" derives from Latin parvus, meaning "small", and dens, meaning "tooth". The little yellow-shouldered bat has been recognized as a species complex, and some authors have considered S. parvidens as a separate species since 2000. In 2013, a genetic study further supported that it should be recognized as a full species. It forms a clade with Sturnira bakeri.

Sturnira parvidens is a medium-sized bat, with a head-body length of 6–7 cm (2.4–2.8 in) and weighing 12–19 g (0.42–0.67 oz). Individuals have a forearm length of approximately 41 mm (1.6 in). It has a short, broad head with large eyes and relatively short, rounded ears. It has a comparatively small nose-leaf, with an... Wikipedia →