It was considered extinct for almost three decades, without a single record confirmed since 1970, until an expedition rediscovered it in 2004 in the mountains of northern Mexico, one of the most remarkable returns of any American turtle given for lost. It has the skull notably flat, an unusual adaptation among turtles that allows it to crumble in extremely fine cracks between the crust unleashed from certain pines, its favourite shelter. It lives in very small colonies hidden after that loose crust, in northern Mexican mountain pine forests, a habitat that has suffered a considerable transformation by melting in the last decades.
Very small frog, one of the smallest in North America, with the skull notably flat compared to other species of its kind, gray brown fur, and small ears. It differs from other Myotis of the region by that characteristic flat skull, a feature that can be appreciated even in hand, and by its strict association to cracks under loose pine bark.
Mountain pine forest, with mature trees of untouched cortex offering cracks of shelter, generally between 2000 and 3000 m of altitude.
Insect-eating, hunting small flying insects in flight near the pine forest where he lives.
It forms very small colonies hidden behind the broken crust of mature pines, with very little documented social behavior given the rarity of the species and the recent rediscovery.
After being extinct for almost three decades, its rediscovery in 2004 confirmed that very small and scattered populations survive in the pine forests of northern Mexico, although its current population trend is unknown due to the scarcity of continued studies.
It is a forest of ripe pine with unleashed crust, the only known type of shelter for the species, and the extreme fragmentation of its populations in northern Mexico.
See all species accounts for bats · Full species index
Mammaling is a free app for logging the mammals you find. You record a sighting in a moment — even if it's just a track — your life list grows, and the record becomes available to scientific and conservation projects.
It runs on your phone with nothing to install. If you like, it adds to your home screen like any other app.
Open Mammaling