Burton's yellow-shouldered bat (''Sturnira burtonlimi'') is a species of

leaf-nosed bat The New World leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) are bats (order Chiroptera) found from southern North America to South America, specifically from the Southwest United States to northern Argentina. Both the scientific and common names derive from ...

found in

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

and

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described as a new species in 2014. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

had been collected in March 1995 by Burton K. Lim, who is the

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

for the

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

"''burtonlimi''." Of Lim, Velazco and Patterson wrote that he "is a tireless fieldworker whose research has contributed much to our understanding of the diversity, relationships, and biogeography of tropical mammals."

Description

Burton's yellow-shouldered bat is considered medium-sized for its genus, with a forearm length of approximately . Individuals weigh approximately . The fur on its back is dark brown, with individual hairs banded with four colors. The first band, closest to the body, is pale gray. The second is dark gray, the third is, again, pale gray, and the tip is dark brown. The fur on its belly is also dark brown, though individual hairs are tricolored. 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-physiology ...

of for a total of 32 teeth.

Range and habitat

This species was first documented north of Santa Clara, Panama. An additional specimen was later reported from the

Cartago Province Cartago (), which means Carthage in Spanish, is a Provinces of Costa Rica, province of central Costa Rica. It is one of the smallest provinces, however probably the richest of the Spanish Colonial era sites and traditions. Geography It is loca ...

. It has been documented at an elevation range of above sea level. All specimens were collected from premontane forest near

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

plantations.

Conservation

As of 2017, it is evaluated 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) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. It meets the criteria for this classification because there is a lack of available information on this species. The extent of its geographic range and the size of its population are unknown.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q16611002 Sturnira Mammals described in 2014 Bats of Central America