Black river stingray vs Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat

Potamotrygon motoro compared with Sturnira koopmanhilli

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Black river stingray	Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Elasmobranchii	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Myliobatiformes (Myliobatiformes)	Chiroptera (Bats)
Family	Potamotrygonidae	Phyllostomidae
Genus	Potamotrygon	Sturnira
Species	Potamotrygon motoro	Sturnira koopmanhilli

Evolutionary Relationship

Black river stingray and Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Chordata. (Chordates)

Conservation Status

Black river stingray

DD — Data Deficient

Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat

DD — Data Deficient

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Black river stingray	Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Black river stingray

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests within the Indomalayan biogeographic realm.

Range

Distributed across Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Singapore, and Venezuela.

Choco Yellow-shouldered Bat

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Colombia and Ecuador.

Black river stingray

The Black river stingray (Potamotrygon motoro) is a species in the genus Potamotrygon. It is currently classified as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List. Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests within the Indomalayan biogeographic realm.

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.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

🇨🇴 Colombia 🇪🇨 Ecuador