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Least Yellow Bat

Rhogeessa mira

French: Rhogeessa menue / German: Kleinste Gelbfledermaus / Spanish: Rogesa menuda

Taxonomy. Rhogeessa (Rhogeessa) mira LaVal, 1973,

“ 20 km N El Infiernillo, Michoacan, Mexico, elevation 125 m.”

See R. parvula. Sympatric with R. parvula and R. alleni. Monotypic.

Distribution. Known from only a few records between the villages of El Infiernillo and Zicuiran, Michoacan, S Mexico.

Descriptive notes. Head-body ¢.38 39 mm, tail 26-33 mm, ear 10-13 mm, hindfoot 5-6 mm, forearm 25-27- 8 mm; weight 3 g (one specimen). The Least Yellow Batis the smallest species in the genus. General coloration is yellowish; dorsally bicolored, with buckthorn brown to buffbrown tips and butffier bases, and no strong contrast between bases and tips; ventrally no contrast between bases and tips, with coloration similar to bases of dorsal fur. Ears dark, contrasting sharply with fur. Uropatagium sparsely furred, with hairs reaching knee or past it. Skull small, with moderate slope on forehead; sagittal crest absent. 1,18 slightly smaller than I; cingulum of C' has soft edges.

Habitat. Semiarid areas of xeric shrub vegetation dominated by mesquites and cacti. Has been captured over streams in gallery forest and thorn scrub. Altitudinal range 125-340 m.

Food and Feeding. Stomach contents of five individuals yielded 68-8% Coleoptera, with Scarabaeidae most abundant; Diptera was the second highest (10%), with Dixidae commonest; less abundant were Lepidoptera (4%), Hemiptera (3:2%), Hymenoptera (1%), Neuroptera (1%), and Blattodea (0-5%), with 11-5% unidentified items.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. Considered rare, and its restricted distribution of the Rio Balsas Basin represents an extent of occurrence of only ¢. 6700 km ®. The development of a dam in the area is leading to habitat loss, changes in forest cover, and changes in river cycles.

Bibliography. Alvarez & Avifa (1965), Alvarez-Castaneda & Gonzalez-Ruiz (2018), Arroyo-Cabrales & Baker (2014e), Arroyo-Cabrales & Ospina-Garces (2016a), Arroyo-Cabrales & Polaco (1997), Baird et al. (2008, 2009), LaVal (1973a), Loera-Padilla et al. (2017), Simmons (2005).