Bats comprise a diverse and speciose order (Chiroptera) with over 1,400 species inhabiting every continent on earth except Antarctica. Globally, bat species are experiencing unprecedented declines due to factors such as habitat loss and degradation, climate change, direct persecution, and disease. Unfortunately, many bat species are found in parts of the world that are difficult to access (e.g., Africa, Amazonia), roost deep in caves or hollow trees, and are most commonly active at night, all of which pose challenges to data collection. As a result, little data on the population abundance of many species of bats is available. It is thereby difficult to assess the conservation risk of data deficient bat species, as conservation status is based largely upon changes in population abundance. In this project, we conducted a phylogenetically controlled analysis to examine 835 species of bats with an International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listing status with respect to 20 morphological (e.g., body size and forearm length), ecological (e.g., mean annual temperature and precipitation of the species’ range), and geographic (e.g., range size, latitude) variables. Our analysis suggests that species with primary diets of nectar/pollen, those that inhabit islands, and those with large forearms and hindfeet are at a higher risk of extinction.
