''Artibeus aequatorialis'' (Anderson's fruit-eating bat) is a species of

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". 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 bi ...

in the family Phyllostomidae. The bat is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 elsew ...

to northwestern

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 southe ...

west of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

mountain range. It has been assessed as least concern 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 ...

Taxonomy

It was previously considered a sub-species of ''A.'' ''jamaicensis''. Larsen elevated it to species level on the basis of morphometric and genetic data.

Habitat and distribution

The bat is found in Peru, Ecuador, and Columbia. It inhabits tropical dry forests and tropical lowland forests of the Chocó. It seems to be more common in humid forests. The northernmost and southernmost extent of its range are unknown.

Conservation

The species has been assessed as least-concern by the IUCN due to its large range, and relative commonness. The threats to this species are not known. However, it occurs in some nature reserves (private and national) in its range in western Ecuador. It also occurs in some national parks in Peru.

References

{{taxonbar, from=Q81849769 aequatorialis