The lesser yellow-shouldered bat (''Sturnira nana'') is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is native to

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described in 1971, based on a specimen that had been collected in 1970. It is a member of the yellow-shouldered bats. Its lineage is

basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...

to the other members of its genus, with the exception of the bidentate yellow-shouldered bat, ''Sturnira bidens''. The basal ''Sturnira'' lineages (''S. nana'', ''S. bidens'', and ''S. aratathomasi'') began to diverge from other members of the genus during the

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million years ago) to 5.333 Ma. The ...

(5.2–8.1 million years ago). It was initially placed in the

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: 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 betw ...

''Corvira'', though this

taxonomic rank In biological classification, taxonomic rank is the relative level of a group of organisms (a taxon) in an ancestral or hereditary hierarchy. A common system consists of species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, domain. While ol ...

is now viewed as

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

to ''Sturnira''. 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 ...

''nana'' is likely derived from

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 ...

word nāna, meaning "dwarf." It is the smallest member of its genus–a fact that is referenced several times in its initial description.

Description

It is the smallest bat in its genus, with its forearm measuring long. Its tail is approximately long; its hind foot is long; its ear is long. Like the bidentate yellow-shouldered bat, it has a thin or incomplete

zygomatic arch In anatomy, the zygomatic arch, or cheek bone, is a part of the skull formed by the zygomatic process of the temporal bone (a bone extending forward from the side of the skull, over the opening of the ear) and the temporal process of the zygom ...

. The fur on its back is a dark, grayish brown, while the fur on its ventral side is paler. Individual hairs have four distinct color bands; from base to tip, the colors are white, brown, light silvery brown, and brown again. Ventral hairs lack the final brown terminal color band. The forearm is furred on its dorsal surface. It lacks the shoulder glands found in other members of its genus. Its

nose-leaf A nose-leaf, or leaf nose, is an often large, lance-shaped nose, found in bats of the Phyllostomidae, Hipposideridae The Hipposideridae are a family of bats commonly known as the Old World leaf-nosed bats. While it has often been seen as a s ...

is long and narrow.

Range and habitat

The

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

of this species is in the

Ayacucho Region Ayacucho () is a department and region of Peru, located in the south-central Andes of the country. Its capital is the city of Ayacucho. The region was one of the hardest hit in the 1980s during the guerrilla war waged by Shining Path known as ...

. This species was not detected outside of Peru until a 2011 report cited capturing nine individuals in southern

during April 2009. It has been recorded at elevations of above sea level. So far, it has only been documented along the eastern edge of the Andean Mountains. Its habitat includes lower elevation

montane forests Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

and the edges of clearings.

Conservation

It is currently evaluated as

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

by the IUCN as it is only known from two sites and its distribution is severely fragmented. In 2013,

Bat Conservation International Bat Conservation International (BCI) is an international nongovernmental organization working to conserve bats and their habitats through conservation, education, and research efforts. BCI was founded in 1982 by bat biologist Merlin Tuttle, w ...

listed this species as one of the 35 species of its worldwide priority list of conservation.

References

External links

An image of its skull is on page 2
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1593338 Sturnira Mammals of Peru Mammals described in 1971 Bats of South America Taxonomy articles created by Polbot