Yates's big-eared bat (''Micronycteris yatesi'') is a species of

leaf-nosed bat The New World leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) are found from southern North America to South America, specifically from the Southwest United States to northern Argentina. They are ecologically the most varied and diverse family within the order ...

found in

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Taxonomy and etymology

Yates's big-eared bat was described as a new species in 2013. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

had been collected in February 2007. The

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

for the

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, bot ...

"''yatesi''" is Terry Lamon Yates, "for his pivotal contributions to the knowledge of Bolivian mammals, training Bolivian biologists, and starting collaborations that strengthened mammalian research and shaped current science and field biology in Bolivia."

Description

It has a forearm length of . It has long fur, which measures at its shoulders. Individual hairs are bicolored, with the basal half whitish and the tip brown. Its throat fur is white, while the rest of its ventral fur is buffy. It has long ears, measuring . It has a

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-physiolo ...

of for a total of 34 teeth.

Range and habitat

It has been documented in several parts of

, including Oropeza Province,

Chiquitos Province Chiquitos Province is one of the fifteen provinces of the Bolivian Santa Cruz Department, situated in the center of the department. Its capital is San José de Chiquitos. The province was created on January 23, 1826, during the presidency of ma ...

, and

Florida Province Florida is a province in the Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. Its capital is Samaipata. The province was created by law on December 15, 1924.Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, based on a ''

Micronycteris ''Micronycteris'' is a genus of leaf-nosed bats. List of species Genus ''Micronycteris'' - little big-eared bats * Brosset's big-eared bat, ''Micronycteris brosseti ''Simmons & Voss, 1998 * '' Micronycteris buriri'' Larsen, Siles, Pedersen, & Kw ...

'' specimen identified as Sanborn's big-eared bat that could actually have been Yates's big-eared bat.

Conservation

As of 2017, it is listed as a

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

species 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 ...

. It meets the criteria for this classification because there is little information regarding its population status or the extent of its geographic range.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q16578375 Bats of South America Mammals of Bolivia Mammals described in 2013 Micronycteris