Phyllops silvai


Phyllops silvai, also known as Silva's fig-eating bat, is a recently extinct species of bat from western Cuba. It is a close relative of the living Cuban fig-eating bat.

Chronology

It lived during the Late Pleistocene.
Radiometric date from a sample of long bones of the extinct barn
owl Tyto noeli - directly associated with the type material of P. silvai - gave an age of 17,406 ± 161 YBP. Calibration of the same sample gave ages from 20,050 to 21,474 YBP.

Diagnosis

P. silvai differs from P. falcatus and another extinct relative, P. vetus, by a longer skull, wider postorbital width and long facial region. Its rostrum is larger and upturned with nares dorsally directed, higher than wide.