''Eumops delticus'' is a species of
free-tailed bat
The Molossidae, or free-tailed bats, are a family of bats within the order Chiroptera.
The Molossidae is the fourth-largest family of bats, containing about 110 species as of 2012. They are generally quite robust, and consist of many strong-flyi ...
found in South America.
Taxonomy
''Eumops delticus'' was
described as a new species in 1923 by British mammalogist
Oldfield Thomas
Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist.
Career
Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for the first time. He was appoin ...
.
The
holotype had been collected by Wilhelm Ehrhardt (1860–1936), a
Guyana
Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
-born German animal collector.
The type locality was the
Brazilian island of
Marajó.
In 1932, Colin Campbell Sanborn published that ''E. delticus'' should be considered a
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of the
dwarf bonneted bat (''E. bonariensis'').
It was generally regarded as a subspecies until 2008 when Eger et al. published it as its own species again.
Description
Based on the holotype, ''E. delticus'' individuals have a forearm length of around , a head and body length of , and a tail length of .
Range and habitat
''E. delticus'' is found in the following South American countries: Brazil,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, and
Peru.
Conservation
As of 2018, it is evaluated as a
data deficient
A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...
species by the
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
.
It meets the criteria for this classification because of ongoing uncertainty of its geographic range and ecological requirements.
References
{{taxonbar, from=Q19707735
Mammals described in 1923
Bats of South America
Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas
Eumops