Leptonycteris yerbabuenae Genome sequencing and assembly

Leptonycteris yerbabuenae (Lesser Long-nosed bat), is one of the most interesting and important animals of North America. It is one of few mammal species able to survive and reproduce feeding exclusively on nectar and pollen. This extreme diet adaptation evolved recently in bats. Leptonycteris yerbabuenae is the main co-evolved pollinator of most columnar cacti and agave species that dominate the Mexican and Southwestern USA arid and semi-arid landscapes. It is of ecological and economic importance. A single bat can pollinate up to a 1,000 flowers per night, and natural agave populations that are still used in the mescal industry depend on these bats for its reproduction. L. yerbabuenae is a migratory bat, moving from Southwestern USA to most of the Mexican territory and areas in Northern Central America. In addition, L. yerbabuenae has morphological adaptations to nectarivory, its tongue has approximately the same length as the body and it has structural modifications, including a high density of papillae that facilitate nectar feeding. L. yerbabuenae has a karyotype 2N=32, and a genome size of ca. 2.36 GB.This genome data is a part of a project about the genomic evolution of Phyllostomid bats, conducted by Lab. Evolucion Molecular y Experimental, Institute of Ecology, UNAM Publication: Genomic consequences of dietary diversification and parallel evolution due to nectarivory in Leaf-nosed bats. Publication: Genomic consequences of dietary diversification and parallel evolution due to nectarivory in Leaf-nosed bats.