Balau vs Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat

Shorea lumutensis compared with Sturnira koopmanhilli

Key Differences

• Balau is Critically Endangered while Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat is Data Deficient.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Balau	Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Malvales (Malvales)	Chiroptera (Bats)
Family	Dipterocarpaceae	Phyllostomidae
Genus	Shorea	Sturnira
Species	Shorea lumutensis	Sturnira koopmanhilli

Conservation Status

Balau

CR — Critically Endangered

Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat

DD — Data Deficient

Physical Characteristics

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

Habitat & Geographic Range

Balau

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Colombia and Ecuador.

Balau

The Balau (Shorea lumutensis) is a species in the genus Shorea. It is currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

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.