Chocoan Nectar Bat vs smooth heliotrope

Lonchophylla chocoana compared with Heliotropium curassavicum

Key Differences

Chocoan Nectar Bat is Data Deficient while smooth heliotrope is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Chocoan Nectar Bat	smooth heliotrope
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Chiroptera (Bats)	Boraginales (Boraginales)
Family	Phyllostomidae	Heliotropiaceae
Genus	Lonchophylla	Heliotropium
Species	Lonchophylla chocoana	Heliotropium curassavicum

Conservation Status

Chocoan Nectar Bat

DD — Data Deficient

smooth heliotrope

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Chocoan Nectar Bat	smooth heliotrope
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Chocoan Nectar Bat

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Colombia and Ecuador.

smooth heliotrope

Habitat

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

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (6 countries), Asia (5 countries), Europe (13 countries), North America (Cuba), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, Marshall Islands), and South America (Brazil, Colombia).

Chocoan Nectar Bat

The Chocoan Nectar Bat (Lonchophylla chocoana) is a small, highly specialised bat in the family Phyllostomidae, endemic to the Chocó biogeographic region of northwestern South America — one of the wettest and most biodiverse regions on the planet, spanning the Pacific lowlands of Colombia and Ecuador. It belongs to the genus Lonchophylla, a group of nectarivorous (nectar-feeding) bats characterised by an elongated snout, a long, brush-tipped tongue adapted for reaching deep into flowers, and reduced cheek teeth reflecting their liquid diet. Like other lonchophyllines, the Chocoan Nectar Bat plays an important ecological role as a pollinator of night-blooming plants whose flowers are adapted for chiropterophily (bat pollination), including species of Bromeliaceae, Cactaceae, and various other families. It roosts in caves, tree hollows, and dense vegetation in lowland and foothill forests of the Chocó. The IUCN classifies this species as Data Deficient, reflecting limited survey data on its distribution, population size, and ecology. The Chocó region, despite its extraordinary biodiversity, is under severe pressure from deforestation for palm oil and other agro-industrial crops, and any specialist bat dependent on intact forest and its flowering resources is potentially vulnerable to habitat loss.