''Anoura'' is a genus of
leaf-nosed bat
The New World leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) are bats (order Chiroptera) found from southern North America to South America, specifically from the Southwest United States to northern Argentina. Both the scientific and common names derive from ...
s from
Central and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
.
''Anoura'' members lack or have a short tail, and are nectarivorous bats of small to medium size among the Phyllostomidae.
Etymology
The genus ''Anoura'' was described in 1838 by British zoologist
John Edward Gray
John Edward Gray (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for a z ...
.
The
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
for the genus was the
Geoffroy's tailless bat
Geoffroy's tailless bat (''Anoura geoffroyi'') is a species of phyllostomid bat from the American tropics.
Description
Geoffroy's tailless bat is a medium-sized bat, measuring around in total length and weighing . It has dark to dull brown fur ...
, ''Anoura geoffroyi''.
The etymology of the genus name ''Anoura'' corresponds to the two
ancient greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
words (), expressing the "absence" (this prefix is an
alpha privative
An alpha privative or, rarely, privative a (from Latin ', from Ancient Greek ) is the prefix ''a-'' or ''an-'' (before vowels) that is used in Indo-European languages such as Sanskrit and Greek and in words borrowed therefrom to express negation or ...
), and (), meaning "animal tail".
It refers to the tailless character of these bats.
Note that ''Anoura'', the bat genus, should not be confused with neither '
Anura', an order of
amphibians
Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...
, nor '
Anoures', the original spelling of this order.
Description
''Anoura'' species are small, with head and body lengths ranging from .
Forearm lengths for the genus are .
They either totally lack tails or have very short tails of .
They have elongated
snout
A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, Rostrum (anatomy), rostrum, beak or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the n ...
s, as is seen in ''
Glossophaga
''Glossophaga'' (long-tongued bat) is a genus of bats in the leaf-nosed bat family, Phyllostomidae. Members of the genus are native to the American Neotropics.
Species
*''G. antillarum'' (Rehn, 1902): Jamaican long-tongued bat, Jamaica.
*''G ...
'' bat species.
Similar again to ''Glossophaga'', these species have tongues with
lingual papillae
Lingual papillae (: papilla, ) are small structures on the upper surface of the tongue that give it its characteristic rough texture. The four types of papillae on the human tongue have different structures and are accordingly classified as circum ...
.
Biology
''Anoura'' species consume nectar, pollen, and insects.
Systematics
* ''
Anoura aequatoris
''Anoura aequatoris'' (also known as the equatorial tailless bat) is a species of microbat that lives in South America in the countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Taxonomy
When first described in 1921, Einar Lönnberg classified ' ...
''– While a 2006
morphological study suggested elevating ''Anoura caudifera aequatoris'' to species level,
[Mantilla-Meluk, H., & Baker, R. J. (2006). Systematics of small ''Anoura'' (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from Colombia, with description of a new species. Museum of Texas Tech University.] this conclusion has been challenged. Some believe that it is not distinct enough to warrant separation from ''A. caudifera,'' and that further analysis is needed.
[Calderón-Acevedo, C. A., & Muchhala, N. C. Species limits in the Neotropical Bat Genus ''Anoura'' Gray. Group, 40, 50.] A 2008 study challenged that elevating it to a species overstated the amount of diversity within the genus, and that it should remain a subspecies.
[Jarrín-V, P., & Kunz, T. H. (2008). Taxonomic history of the genus ''Anoura'' (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) with insights into the challenges of morphological species delimitation. Acta Chiropterologica, 10(2), 257-269.]
*
Cadena's tailless bat, ''A. cadenai''– The same 2006 study as above split ''A. cadenai'' away from ''A. caudifer''.
It was challenged by the same 2008 study based on the overall small sample size of the 2006 study, and the small morphological differences between ''A. caudifer'' and ''A. cadenai''.
''A. caudifer'' has subsequently been considered monotypic by others, disregarding ''A. cadenai''.
*
Tailed tailless bat
The tailed tailless bat (''Anoura caudifer'') is a species of leaf-nosed bat from South America.
Taxonomy
The scientific name of this species is variously given as either ''A. caudifer'' or ''A. caudifera'', with scientists having argued for bot ...
, ''A. caudifer''
*
Handley's tailless bat
Handley's tailless bat (''Anoura cultrata'') is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, ...
, ''A. cultrata''
*
Tube-lipped nectar bat
The tube-lipped nectar bat (''Anoura fistulata'') is a bat from Ecuador. It was described in 2005. It has a remarkably long tongue, which it uses to drink nectar. It additionally consumes pollen and insects.
Taxonomy and etymology
The tube-lippe ...
, ''A. fistulata''
*
Geoffroy's tailless bat
Geoffroy's tailless bat (''Anoura geoffroyi'') is a species of phyllostomid bat from the American tropics.
Description
Geoffroy's tailless bat is a medium-sized bat, measuring around in total length and weighing . It has dark to dull brown fur ...
, ''A. geoffroyi''
* ''
Anoura javieri
''Anoura'' is a genus of leaf-nosed bats from Central America, Central and South America. ''Anoura'' members lack or have a short tail, and are nectarivorous bats of small to medium size among the Phyllostomidae.
Etymology
The genus ''Anoura'' ...
''
*
Broad-toothed tailless bat, ''A. latidens''
*
Luis Manuel's tailless bat, ''A. luismanueli''
* ''
Anoura peruana''
References
External links
{{Authority control
Bat genera
Taxa named by John Edward Gray