''Sturnira honurensis'' is a species of bat found in Central America. Previously, it was considered a subspecies of the highland yellow-shouldered bat, but it has been considered distinct since 2010.

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described as a new species in 1940 by George G. Goodwin. Since its discovery, it has sometimes been considered a subspecies of the highland yellow-shouldered bat, ''Sturnira ludovici''. However, a 2010 study showed that while it is closely related to the highland yellow-shouldered bat, it is distinct enough to be considered its own species. Its

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bo ...

"''hondurensis''" is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

for "belonging to Honduras." Goodwin likely chose ''hondurensis'' because the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

for the species was collected near San José, Honduras.

Description

Its tragi are long and sickle-shaped.

Biology and ecology

It is

nocturnal Nocturnality is an ethology, animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have ...

, foraging for food at night and sleeping during the day. In the day, it roosts in sheltered places such as trees. Tree species used for roosting include the

American sweetgum American sweetgum (''Liquidambar styraciflua''), also known as American storax, hazel pine, bilsted, redgum, satin-walnut, star-leaved gum, alligatorwood, or simply sweetgum, is a deciduous tree in the genus ''Liquidambar'' native to warm temper ...

, ''

Quercus sartorii ''Quercus sartorii'' is a species of oak tree known by the common name of Sartors oak. It is native to central and southern Mexico from Veracruz, San Luis Potosi, Hidalgo, Puebla, Oaxaca to Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and ...

'', Jamaican nettletree, and the elephant-ear tree. It is

frugivorous A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance an ...

. It mostly feeds on fruits from the family

Solanaceae The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and o ...

Conservation

It is currently evaluated as

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. Th ...

by the IUCN.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21377113 Bats of Central America Mammals described in 1940 Sturnira