The Incan little mastiff bat (''Mormopterus phrudus'') is a species of

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

in the family Molossidae, the free-tailed bats. It belongs to the

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

''Micronomus''.

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described as a new species by American zoologist

Charles O. Handley Charles Overton Handley, Jr. (July 14, 1924June 9, 2000) was a zoologist and explorer who conducted various expeditions for the United States government. Born in Longview, Texas, Handley's father was a professor of wildlife management and an avid ...

. Although the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

had been collected in 1915 by

Edmund Heller Edmund Heller (May 21, 1875 – July 18, 1939) was an American zoologist. He was President of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums for two terms, 1935–1936 and 1937–1938. Early life While at Stanford University, he collected specimens in the ...

, it was not scientifically described until 1956. Its

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

"''phrudus''" comes from

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 ...

"phroudos," meaning "gone" or "disappeared." Handley chose this name "with allusion to their type locality, the 'Lost City' of Machu Picchu..." Along with Kalinowski's mastiff bat, it is one of only two species of ''

Mormopterus ''Mormopterus'' is a genus of molossid microchiropterans, small flying mammals referred to as free-tailed bats. The genus has been the subject of several revisions, and the diversity of taxa centred on Australia were separated to a new genus '' ...

'' in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

Description

Its head and body length is ; its tail length is ; its forearm length is . Its fur is dark brown. Its ears are thin, rounded, and not conjoined as in some other

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-fly ...

s. It has a small tragus with a pointed tip and an inconspicuous

antitragus The antitragus is a feature of mammalian ear anatomy. In humans, it is a small Tubercle (anatomy)#Ears, tubercle on the visible part of the ear, the Auricle (anatomy), auricle. The antitragus is located just above the earlobe and points anatomical ...

. Its lips are slightly wrinkled. Males, at least, have a gular gland. Its

dental formula Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiology ...

is , for a total of 30 teeth.

Biology and ecology

Little is known about the biology of the bat. It has been observed roosting in caves at an altitude of . It may be a

microendemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found ...

species.

Range and habitat

It is only known for its very small occupancy area of . It is documented at relatively high elevations, from above sea level. It occurs in lowland subtropical forest.

Conservation

This bat is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, where it is known only from one location; its type locality is

Machu Picchu Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain ridge at . Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of the Inca Empire. It is located in the ...

. It is considered a vulnerable species by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN) and a critically endangered species by the nation of Peru; though it is rare, it lives in a protected area.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1831588 Mormopterus Endemic fauna of Peru Mammals of Peru Mammals of the Andes Mammals described in 1956 Bats of South America