Velvety fruit-eating bat


The velvety fruit-eating bat, also known as Hart's little fruit bat, is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is monotypic within the genus Enchisthenes. It is found in Central America, Mexico, the United States, and northern South America.

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described as a new species in 1892 by British zoologist Oldfield Thomas.
Thomas initially placed it in the genus Artibeus, with the scientific name Artibeus hartii.
The eponym for the species name "hartii" is J. H. Hart, who provided the holotype to Thomas.
Hart was the superintendent of the Botanic Gardens in Trinidad, which is the type locality.
The genus Enchisthenes was described in 1908 by Danish mammalogist Knud Andersen.
He noted that Enchisthenes was closely related to Artibeus, and designated A. hartii as the type species and the only member of the genus.
Though the opinion of the taxonomic validity of Enchisthenes has varied since its description, it has most recently been recognized as a valid monotypic genus.

Description

Its fur is nearly black in color, and its face has a few faint lines that are paler in color.
It has a forearm length of.
Individuals weigh.
Its dental formula is for a total of 32 teeth.

Range and habitat

Its range includes Central and South America.
Countries within its range include Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
There is a single record from the United States state of Arizona.

Conservation

As of 2008, it is evaluated as a least-concern species by the IUCN.
It meets the criteria for this designation because it has a wide geographic range; its population is presumably large; and it is unlikely to be experiencing rapid population decline.