Talamancan yellow-shouldered bat

The Talamancan yellow-shouldered bat (Sturnira mordax) is a small fruit-eating bat of the family Phyllostomidae, the leaf-nosed bats of the Americas. It is found only in Costa Rica and Panama, and no subspecies are recognised. Adults measure about 6 cm in head-body length and weigh between 20 and 28 g, with males larger than females. It looks much like the closely related highland yellow-shouldered bat but is more uniformly dark, with a longer, narrower head and larger canine teeth. The forearm carries thick fur for about a third of its length while the hind feet have only sparse hair; other features include a notch at the tip of the tragus, two points on each upper middle incisor, a simple nose-leaf, short pointed ears and no tail. George Goodwin first described the species in 1938 from Costa Rica, and it was found in Panama in the 1980s, while reports from Colombia and Ecuador have been disputed. It lives in damp tropical forests at elevations of up to about 3,000 m and feeds on fruits such as those of Cecropia, Anthurium, Centropogon and Musa. Little is known of its biology, though it is believed to breed throughout the year.