Benkeith's short-tailed bat

Benkeith's short-tailed bat (Carollia benkeithi) is a leaf-nosed bat found in northeastern Bolivia, eastern Peru and western Brazil. It was described as a new species only in 2006, from a holotype collected in 1983 about 2 kilometres south of Tingo Maria in Peru, and it very closely resembles the chestnut short-tailed bat, so the two are probably often confused. The species name honours Ben E. Keith, who donated 5 million dollars to Texas Tech University. It is a relatively small short-tailed fruit bat with a forearm of 33.7 to 37.2 millimetres and a head and body length of 52 to 68 millimetres. The fur on its back is chestnut brown and its belly fur is a dull, grayish brown. Stable isotope analysis suggests it eats a considerable amount of insects as well as plant material such as fruit. In Brazil it is uncommon within the central Amazon basin.