Anoura

<i>Anoura</i>

Anoura

Genus of bats


Anoura is a genus of leaf-nosed bats from Central and South America.[1] Anoura members lack or have a short tail, and are nectarivorous bats of small to medium size among the Phyllostomidae.[2]

Quick Facts Anoura, Scientific classification ...

Etymology

The genus Anoura was described in 1838 by British zoologist John Edward Gray. The type species for the genus was the Geoffroy's tailless bat, Anoura geoffroyi.[3] The etymology of the genus name Anoura corresponds to the two ancient greek words ἀν- (an-), expressing the "absence" (this prefix is an alpha privative), and οὐρά (ourá), meaning "animal tail".[4][5] It refers to the tailless character of these bats.

Note that Anoura, the bat genus, should not be confused with neither 'Anura', an order of amphibians, nor 'Anoures', the original spelling of this order.

Description

Anoura species are small, with head and body lengths ranging from 50–90 mm (2.0–3.5 in). Forearm lengths for the genus are 34–48 mm (1.3–1.9 in). They either totally lack tails or have very short tails of 3–7 mm (0.12–0.28 in). They have elongated snouts, as is seen in Glossophaga bat species. Similar again to Glossophaga, these species have tongues with lingual papillae.[6]

Biology

Anoura species consume nectar, pollen, and insects.[6]

Systematics


References

  1. Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. Pacheco V, Sánchez-Vendizú P, Solari S (2018). "A new species of Anoura Gray, 1838 (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from Peru, with taxonomic and biogeographic comments on species of the Anoura caudifer complex". Acta Chiropterologica. 20 (1): 31–50. doi:10.3161/15081109ACC2018.20.1.002. S2CID 92377619.
  3. Bailly, Anatole (1981-01-01). Abrégé du dictionnaire grec français. Paris: Hachette. ISBN 978-2010035289. OCLC 461974285.
  4. Bailly, Anatole. "Greek-french dictionary online". www.tabularium.be. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  5. Nowak, Ronald M.; Pillsbury Walker, Ernest (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World. Vol. 1. JHU Press. pp. 373–374. ISBN 9780801857898.
  6. Mantilla-Meluk, H., & Baker, R. J. (2006). Systematics of small Anoura (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from Colombia, with description of a new species. Museum of Texas Tech University.
  7. Calderón-Acevedo, C. A., & Muchhala, N. C. Species limits in the Neotropical Bat Genus Anoura Gray. Group, 40, 50.
  8. Jarrín-V, P., & Kunz, T. H. (2008). Taxonomic history of the genus Anoura (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) with insights into the challenges of morphological species delimitation. Acta Chiropterologica, 10(2), 257-269.
  9. Smith (2012). "Lesser Tailless Bat" (PDF). Mammals of Paraguay. 43. Retrieved May 11, 2017.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Anoura, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.