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
Rayfield, Kristen M., Cooke, Siobhán B., Mychajliw, Alexis M., Turvey, Samuel T., Upham, Nathan, Vaccaro, Sarah and Dávalos, Liliana M. (2026). Interactions between intrinsic and extrinsic factors shape island bat survival and extirpation in a global extinction hotspot. Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society. https://doi.org/10.1093/evolinnean/kzag014
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