Little Big-eared Bat

Open encyclopedia reference

The little big-eared bat (Micronycteris megalotis) is a bat species in the order Chiroptera and family Phyllostomidae. It is from South and Central America particularly Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Suriname and Trinidad. Though its exact population is unknown, it is considered widespread and occurs in protected areas, although deforestation may be a minor threat, it is classified as Least Concern. It is found in multistratal evergreen forests and dry thorn forests and forages near streams and is found hollow trees, logs, caverns, or houses with groups up to twelve. The head and body length measures at 44 millimetres (1.7 in) for males and 45 millimetres (1.8 in) for females. Males usually weigh about 5 grams (0.18 oz) while females weigh 5.7 grams (0.20 oz).

Wikipedia contributors, Little big-eared bat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:41:03.043742+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Micronycteris (Micronycteris) megalotis (Gray, 1842)

Name authority

(Gray, 1842)

Common name

Little Big-eared Bat

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Chiroptera

Family

Phyllostomidae

Genus

Micronycteris

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderChiroptera Blumenbach, 1779
12. suborderYangochiroptera Koopman, 1984
13. superfamilyNoctilionoidea Gray, 1821
14. familyPhyllostomidae Gray, 1825
15. subfamilyMicronycterinae Van Den Bussche, 1992
16. genusMicronycteris Gray, 1866
17. subgenusMicronycteris Gray, 1866
18. speciesMicronycteris (Micronycteris) megalotis (Gray, 1842)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Micronycteris. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 183 records assigned to Phyllostomidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=631770 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4326K. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.