Artibeus fraterculus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

Abstract

Artibeus fraterculus Anthony, 1924 is a phyllostomid bat commonly called the fraternal fruit-eating bat. It is endemic to western Ecuador and north-central and western Peru. It prefers dry forests and arid zones where it can be very abundant, and it also is present in semideciduous and humid habitats, where it occurs less abundantly; it is an active seed disperser especially of plants of the family Moraceae. This species apparently is not threatened by deforestation or urbanization and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and the Ecuador Red List of mammals both list A. fraterculus as of "Least Concern."