Greater long-nosed bat

The greater long-nosed bat, also called the Mexican long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris nivalis), is a medium-sized nectar-feeding bat of the family Phyllostomidae. It lives in Mexico and, in the warmer months, in parts of southern Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. Its fur is sooty brown, darker on the back and paler beneath, with each hair white at the base and silver at the tip, and it has an elongated muzzle, a long tongue tipped with fine papillae, an erect triangular nose-leaf, a very short tail and reduced teeth suited to a diet of soft food. It feeds mainly on pollen and nectar from agave and cactus flowers, switching between plants as different species come into bloom. It roosts mostly in caves and mines, and its single known mating cave is Cueva del Diablo near Tepoztlan in Mexico. Numbers have likely declined for decades, and the species is listed as endangered in the United States and threatened in Mexico.