vs Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat

Asperococcus ensiformis compared with Sturnira koopmanhilli

Taxonomic Classification

Rank Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat
Kingdom Chromista (Chromista) Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Ochrophyta (Ochrophyta) Chordata (Chordates)
Class Phaeophyceae (Phaeophyceae) Mammalia (Mammals)
Order Ectocarpales (Ectocarpales) Chiroptera (Bats)
Family Chordariaceae Phyllostomidae
Genus Asperococcus Sturnira
Species Asperococcus ensiformis Sturnira koopmanhilli

Conservation Status

DD — Data Deficient

Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat

DD — Data Deficient

Physical Characteristics

Attribute Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat
Diet
Average Lifespan
Average Length
Average Weight

Habitat & Geographic Range

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, tundra, and tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests spanning the Australasia and Oceanian realms.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, New Zealand, and Norway.

Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Colombia and Ecuador.

Asperococcus ensiformis is a tubular to flattened brown alga forming elongated, sac-like or sword-shaped thalli attached to rocky substrates. It inhabits intertidal and shallow subtidal rocky shores of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. This photosynthetic macroalga grows on rocks and larger algae in wave-exposed coastal zones.

Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat

The Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat (Sturnira koopmanhilli) is a medium-sized frugivorous bat in the family Phyllostomidae, endemic to the Chocó biogeographic region of northwestern South America, where it occurs in the humid forests of the Pacific slope of Colombia and adjacent Ecuador. It belongs to the genus Sturnira — the yellow-shouldered bats — characterised by males bearing distinctive yellowish, orange, or reddish shoulder glands (from which the group's name derives), robust bodies, and rounded ears. Like all Sturnira, this species is primarily frugivorous, consuming a wide range of small, soft fruits from pioneer and forest trees, and plays an important role as a seed disperser in disturbed forest patches and forest edges. The diet of Solanaceae (nightshade family) fruits is particularly typical of the genus, and Sturnira bats are considered the primary dispersers of many pioneer Solanum species in Neotropical secondary succession, contributing directly to forest regeneration. The IUCN classifies the Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat as Data Deficient, reflecting significant uncertainty about the species' distribution limits, population size, and ecological requirements. The Chocó region continues to experience rapid deforestation, which threatens frugivorous bat diversity even where individual species lack adequate data for formal threat assessment.

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