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Slender Yellow Bat

Rhogeessa gracilis

French: Rhogeessa gracile / German: Schlanke Gelbfledermaus / Spanish: Rogesa gracil

Taxonomy. Rhogeessa gracilis G. S. Miller, 1897,

“Piaxtla, Puebla,” Mexico.

See R. alleni . Monotypic.

Distribution. W & S Mexico (Zacatecas and Jalisco to Oaxaca).

Descriptive notes. Head-body c.46 48 mm, tail 36-43 mm, ear 17- 5-18 mm, hindfoot 6-7 mm, forearm 32-7-33- 5 mm; weight 3-4 g. Dorsal fur is tricolored, with grayish-brown bases, pale-buff centers, and light ocherous-buff tips; ventral fur bicolored, with dark grayish-brown bases and pinkish-butfftips. Ears long and broad, differentiating it from congeners; tragus slender, tapering to a point. Wing membranes thin, semi-transparent, and sparsely furred on side of body; uropatagium sparsely furred until knee; calcar slightly shorter than free margin of uropatagium. Skull narrow with steep slope on forehead; braincase moderately inflated; sagittal and occipital crests present but poorly developed. I, nearly as large as I; lingual surface of cingulum of C' is smooth and regular. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 30.

Habitat. Coniferous forests, and less frequently xeric shrubland and deciduous rainforests. Bats were captured in pine and pine-oak forests, arid areas, and very arid tropical forests; also, over a mountain stream in pine-oak forest and one over an arroyo in an oak forest. Altitudinal range is 600-2000 m, with most records from above 1000 m.

Food and Feeding. Insectivorous.

Breeding. A pregnant female was captured in May, and subadult females in July.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Widely distributed, but considered rare.

Bibliography. Arroyo-Cabrales & Baker (2014d), Baird et al. (2008, 2009), Jones, J.K. (1977), LaVal (1973a), Miller (1897), Simmons (2005), Solari (2019h), Watkins et al. (1972).