Rhinophylla alethina Handley 1966

116.

Hairy Little Fruit Bat

Rhinophylla alethina

French: Rhinophylle de Handley / German: Wollhaarige Kleinfruchtfledermaus / Spanish: Rhinofilo de Handley

Taxonomy. Rhinophylla alethina Handley, 1966,

“Rio Raposo, near sea level, 27 km south of Buenaventura, Departamento de Valle [del Cauca], Colombia.”

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. Pacific slope of Colombia (Choco S to Narino departments) and Ecuador (Esmeraldas S to Chimborazo provinces).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 47-60 mm (tailless), ear 12-18 mm, hindfoot 8-12 mm, forearm 34-9-37-2 mm; weight 12-16 g. Dorsalfur of the Hairy Little Fruit Batis blackish. Head pelage is darker than dorsum. Underparts are black on chin, fuscous black on chest, and brownish on abdomen. Dorsal hairs are tricolored. Body fur is woollier in texture than in the Dwarf Little Fruit Bat (R. pumilio) and Fischer’s Little Fruit Bat (R. fischerae). Tragus is small and blackish. Noseleat is simple and blackish, with base of horseshoe fused to upperlip. Chin has triangular central protuberance bordered by two longitudinalfleshy pads, converging ventrally, and small, circular median ventral protuberance. Wing membranes and uropatagium are blackish. Uropatagium is narrow, ¢. 5 mm from midline. Proximal two-thirds of forearm is hairy. Uropatagium is hairy and fringed. Calcar is smaller than foot. Tail is absent. Rostrum is relatively short, ¢.50% the length of braincase. Zygomatic arches are absent. Sagittal crest is low. Palate is relatively broad and short. Mandible has small angular process. Condyle is level with tooth row or slightly below. Dental formula for all species of Rhinophyllais 12/2, C1/1,P 2/2, M 3/3 (x2) = 32. I' is much larger than I?, P° is small, M? is peg-like, [, is large and trilobed, and I,is small and unicuspid.

Habitat. Moist tropical forests from sea level to elevations of ¢. 1700 m (most commonly 200-600 m).

Food and Feeding. The Hairy Little Fruit Bat is a frugivore that eats fruits and infructescences of Ficus (Moraceae), Philodendron (Araceae), and Piper (Piperaceae).

Breeding. Two reproductive periods of the Hairy Little Fruit Bat have been suggested in February-May and July-November, with birth peaks in October. One young is born per pregnancy.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List. Although the Hairy Little Fruit Bat is relatively common in some areas, such as in the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve (Ecuador), it is otherwise known from relatively few specimens. Moreover,its habitat, Chocoan forests, suffers from intense deforestation, and future scenarios of climate change predict that it will lose mostits preferred habitat in the next four decades.

Bibliography. Albuja (1999), Albuja & Mena (1999), Baud (1982), Handley (19664), Iturralde-Pélit et al. (2017), McLellan & Koopman (2008), Zapata-Mesa et al. (2017).