Phyllops silvai, also known as Silva's fig-eating bat, is a recently extinct species of bat from western Cuba. It is a close relative of the living Cuban fig-eating bat.

Phyllops silvai
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Phyllostomidae
Genus: Phyllops
Species:
P. silvai
Binomial name
Phyllops silvai
Suárez and Díaz-Franco, 2003[1]

Chronology

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It lived during the Late Pleistocene. Radiometric date from a sample of long bones of the extinct barn owl Tyto noeli - directly associated with the type material of P. silvai - gave an age of 17,406 ± 161 YBP. Calibration of the same sample gave ages from 20,050 to 21,474 YBP.[2]

Diagnosis

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P. silvai differs from P. falcatus and another extinct relative, P. vetus, by a longer skull, wider postorbital width and long facial region. Its rostrum is larger and upturned with nares dorsally directed, higher than wide.

References

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  1. ^ "Phyllops silvai". Fossilworks.
  2. ^ Suárez, William; Diaz-Franco, Stephen (2003). "A New Fossil Bat (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from a Quaternary Cave Deposit in Cuba". Caribbean Journal of Science. 39 (3): 371–377.