Phyllops silvai Suárez & Díaz-Franco, 2003
Silva's fig-eating bat
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Extinct (Morgan & Czaplewski, 2025:309)
Last record: 20,050 to 21,474 yBP
This species is only known from sub-fossil remains dated to 20,050 to 21,474 yBP (95% confidence).
Distribution & Habitat
Cuba
Type locality: "Cueva El Abrón, western tip of Sierra de La Güira (ca. 22°40N, 83°28W; X-247, Y-317; on the 1:50 000 series map, Herradura 3583-IV, Instituto Cubano de Geodesia y Cartograf´ıa, 1982), Municipality of Los Palacios, Pinar del Rıo Province, Cuba."
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Holotype: MNHNCu 76.4620 ("partial skull")
Paratypes:
MNHNCu 76.4621 ("Mandible without right ramus")
MNHNCu 76.4622 ("Mandible without teeth and right ramus")
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Suárez, William and Díaz-Franco, Stephen. (2003). A New Fossil Bat (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from a Quaternary Cave Deposit in Cuba. Caribbean Journal of Science 39(3): 371-377.
Other references:
Borroto-Páez, Rafael and Mancina, Carlos A. (2017). Biodiversity and conservation of Cuban mammals: past, present, and invasive species. Journal of Mammalogy 98(4): 964-985. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyx017
Herrera-Uria, Jane et al. (2015). Type specimens housed in the National Museum of Natural History of Cuba. Solenodon 12: 84-123.
Morgan, Gary S. and Czaplewski, Nicholas J. (2025). The North American fossil record of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) from cave and karst deposits. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 87(4): 265-313. https://doi.org/10.4311/2024pa0116
Turvey, Samuel T. (2009). Holocene mammal extinctions, pp. 41-61. In: Turvey, Samuel T. (ed.). Holocene Extinctions. Oxford, UK & New York, USA: Oxford University Press. xii + 352 pp.
Turvey, Samuel T. and Fritz, Susanne A. (2011). The ghosts of mammals past: biological and geographical patterns of global mammalian extinction across the Holocene. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 366(1577): 2564-2576. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0020 [Supplementary Information]
Upham, Nathan S. (2017). Past and present of insular Caribbean mammals: understanding Holocene extinctions to inform modern biodiversity conservation. Journal of Mammalogy 98(4): 913-917. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyx079
Wilson, D. E. and Reeder, D. M. (2005). Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Third edition. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.
https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/6518/phyllops-silvai-silvas-fig-eating