Peracchi's nectar bat (''Lonchophylla peracchii'') is a species of

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

-feeding

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. It was first described from the

Atlantic Forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and th ...

in southeastern Brazil.

Description

The discovery of this species as distinct from '' Lonchophylla bokermanni'' has meant that the latter is restricted to a small area of the

Cerrado The ''Cerrado'' (, ) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are t ...

, and might be endangered due to

habitat destruction 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 ...

. Bat species in the genus ''

Lonchophylla ''Lonchophylla'' is a genus of bats in the family Phyllostomidae. List of species Genus ''Lonchophylla'' * Bokermann's nectar bat, ''Lonchophylla bokermanni'' * Cadena's long-tongued bat, ''Lonchophylla cadenai'' * Chocoan long-tongued bat, ''L ...

'' feed on nectar and differ from fruit-eating bats by having a long, extensible tongues and elongated skulls and muzzles, adapted to their feeding behaviour. ''L. peracchii'' is distinguished from ''L. bokermanni'' by its fur color and ear shape; the Cerrado species has a grayer hue and shorter, rounder ears.

Description

References

Further reading