The short-eared bat is a dark-colored
sac-winged bat, similar in appearance to
Saccopteryx or
Peropteryx, but differentiated by its long, silky fur, low rounded ears, expanded clavicles, grooved tibia, and cranial frontal cup. Forearms range from long. Skull length ranges from . Females tend to be somewhat larger than males. As with all emballonurid bats, short-eared bats use a type of echolocation call that consists of a central, narrowband component and one or two short, frequency-modulated sweeps. All calls are multi-harmonic with most energy concentrated in the second harmonic. ==Range and population==