Disk-winged bats are a small group of bats of the family Thyropteridae and genus Thyroptera. They are found in

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

, usually in moist tropical rain forests. It is a very small family, consisting of a single

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

with five extant and one fossil species. The name comes from the suction cups found at the base of the thumb and under the heel of these animals, similar to those found in sucker-footed bats. These structures help them to cling smooth surfaces, and to remain, for example, inside young coiled banana, ''

Heliconia ''Heliconia'', derived from the Greek word (), is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the ca 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the w ...

'', and prayer plant leaves, where they roost. They can also be recognized by their reduced thumbs, which are enclosed by the wing membranes, and their funnel-shaped ears. They have brownish to black fur, and roost in small groups, or singly. They are

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were ...

and can live in many different kinds of environments.

Taxonomy

Family Tyropteridae * Genus ''Thyroptera'' **

De Vivo's disk-winged bat De Vivo's disk-winged bat (''Thyroptera devivoi'') is a species of disc-winged bat found in South America. Taxonomy and etymology It was described as a new species in 2006, the fourth species to be described in the disc-winged bat genus and f ...

, ''Thyroptera devivoi'' **

Peters's disk-winged bat Peters's disk-winged bat (''Thyroptera discifera'') is a bat species mainly found in South and Central America. It belongs to the family Thyropteridae, a small group of disk-winged bats. They have a distinguishing feature of circular, suction di ...

, ''Thyroptera discifera'' ** LaVal's disk-winged bat, ''Thyroptera lavali'' **

Spix's disk-winged bat Spix’s disk-winged bat (''Thyroptera tricolor''), is a species of bat in the family Thyropteridae. It is native to the Americas from Mexico to Brazil. The most prominent anatomical feature of this bat, which distinguishes it from other species, ...

, ''Thyroptera tricolor'' **

Patricia's disk-winged bat Patricia's disk-winged bat (''Thyroptera wynneae'') is a species of disk-winged bat found in South America. Taxonomy and etymology It was described as a new species in 2014. The holotype was collected in 2012 in Peru. The eponym for the species ...

, ''Thyroptera wynneae'' ** †'' Thyroptera robusta'', Middle Miocene (

Laventan The Laventan ( es, Laventense) age is a period of geologic time (13.8 to 11.8 Ma) within the Middle Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification in South America. It follows the Colloncuran and precedes the ...

)

Honda Group, Colombia The Honda Group ( es, Grupo Honda, Tsh, Ngh) is a group (geology), geological group of the Upper Magdalena Basin, Upper and Middle Magdalena Basins and the adjacent Cordillera Central (Colombia), Central and Cordillera Oriental (Colombia), East ...

''Thyroptera robusta''
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database, a large relational database assembled by hundreds of paleontologists from around the world. History Fossilworks was cre ...

.org

References

Bat genera Taxa named by Johann Baptist von Spix {{bat-stub