| California leaf-nosed bat | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Phyllostomidae |
| Genus: | Macrotus |
| Species: | M. californicus |
| Binomial name | |
| Macrotus californicus Baird, 1858 | |
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The California leaf-nosed bat (Macrotus californicus) is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is found in Mexico and the United States. Its natural habitat is hot deserts.
California leaf-nosed bats can be found in Sonoran and Mojave Desert scrub habitats in the Colorado River valley in southern California, Nevada and Arizona, and throughout western Mexico. It is non-migratory and does not hibernate.
The California leaf-nosed bat weighs between 12 and 20 grams, has a wingspan of over 30 centimeters and a body length of over 6 centimeters, and is brown in color. As its name implies, it has a triangular fleshy growth of skin, called a noseleaf, protruding above the nose. This bat is the only bat of the family Phyllostomidae in the United States to have large ears, usually over 2.5 centimeters. It is also one of the most maneuverable in flight. M. californicus seems to spread its uropatagium widely only when hovering or performing other maneuvers requiring a departure from straight level flight, but the extreme maneuverability observed in M. californicus is probably due to the specializations of its sensory equipment. [2] With short, broad wings, it can fly at low speeds using minimal energy. Because of this adaptation, it is not suited for long-distance travel, and is non-migratory. [3]
This bat has an unusual reproductive pattern. After breeding occurs in the fall, the embryos develop very slowly until March, when growth continues at a more normal rate before birth in May or June. Twins are common. [3]
In Macrotus the position of the hind limbs during level flight differs even more form that in most other mammals. The hind limbs are held behind the bat in a spider-leg- like posture, with the femur extending dorsad and caudad, and with the shank partially flexed and extending caudad and more or less downward. [2]
Like all other species in the genus Macrotus, it has twelve thoracic, six lumbar, five sacral, and seven caudal vertebrae. [2]
The bats are susceptible to human disturbance, which can be especially detrimental to the species during summer months, when rearing their young. Human disturbance of caves in which they roost is a major threat. Furthermore, because they often roost in abandoned mines, reclamation practices and re-working old mines can severely impact populations. Because California leaf-nosed bats do not hibernate or migrate, the relatively warm mine shafts are critical for their survival in the northern portions of its range. [3]
In the study area Macrotus roosts in the daytime exclusively in caves, deserted mine tunnels and deep grottos. [2] They are usually within 30 to 80 feet of the entrance of the tunnel and seem not to require dark retreats. On many occasions, leaf-nosed bats roost in tunnels less than 20 feet deep and fairly brightly lit. In order to be suitable, the Macrotus retreat must be mostly enclosed and have overhead protection from the weather. [2] Roosting chambers are usually large enough to provide considerable ceiling surface and flying space, and thus adequate space allows the animal to find a place to roost while flying. The coolness of the roost also plays a factor in Macrotus selection of roosts, which is why Macrotus would choose to roost in a cool cave in the hot summers. Macrotus prefer to hang from sloping parts of the ceiling and actively grab the rock with ease due to the irregularity of the surface. [2] The bat seems to rest much of the time while hanging onto the rock with only one foot. The free foot is often used for scratching and for grooming the fur, and when the bat is engaged in these activities the body usually swings gently like an erratically disturbed pendulum. [2]
The flight of the Macrotus is remarkable chiefly for its extreme maneuverability. The bat flies fairly rapidly on occasion, but the usual foraging flight is slow and buoyant, and more nearly silent that of most bats. [2] In level flight Macrotus wings make a soft fluttering sound that is less sharp and carrying than the sounds made by the wing beats of most other bats. The method of landing is most interesting. The bat flies six to eight inches below the ceiling and upon the wings making a deep down stroke that is directed nearly straight forward the hind limbs and uropatagium. [2] These movements cause the bat to swoop upward toward the ceiling and as the bat nears the ceiling the wings are pulled back in an upstroke while the bat rolls over 180 degrees so that its back is facing downward and the long legs reach for the ceiling. [2] Stated briefly, then the alighting maneuver consists of an upward swoop and a half-roll, at the end of which the feet wing rapidly toward the ceiling, seize it, and the wings give a final beat to steady the bat. Often these landings must require precise judgement of speed and distance, as many landings are made in the midst of a fairly closely spaced group of bats. [2] Macrotus has two main methods of launching into flight, by dropping from the ceiling and taking flight after a short downward swoop, and by taking flight directly from the roosting place. The bat often hovers, both when foraging and when flying in its daytime retreat. Macrotus seems to hover easily, and is able to hover for several seconds at a time.
This bat is a "gleaning" insectivore which captures prey such as crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, and sphinx moths straight from the ground or foliage rather than in flight. It prefers to use its large eyes to detect prey, although in total darkness it will switch to echolocation. It typically hunts within a few feet of the ground, using its superior eyesight to search for insects. It does not alight to capture its prey, but hovers above it and snags it off the substrate. It then carries its prey to an open roost such as a porch or open building to dismember, then consume it. [3]
These bats usually forage within three feet of the ground and often drop down closer to the ground nearer the surface where they can occasionally hover for a few seconds. [2] Even bats released in the daytime flew fairly close to the ground. Leaf-nosed bats seem to be totally insectivorous, and their food clearly reflects the bats' foraging habits. Some insects regularly eaten by Macrotus are almost certainly taken from the ground or from vegetation. The bats' stomachs often contain orthopteran insects, noctuid moths and caterpillars, and beetles of the families Scarabaeidae and Carabidae, along with unidentified material. [2] The lists of food items of Macrotus contain a plethora of insects that seldom fly, are flightless, or that fly in the daytime. This constitutes strong evidence that this bat consumes insects that are on the ground or on vegetation. Most leaf-nosed bats forage sometime between one hour after sundown and four hours after sundown, and then retire to a night roosting place. Each bat seems to have a pre-midnight foraging period of roughly one hour. [2] The greatest activity in the early morning seems to occur between two and one half hours before sunrise and thirty minutes before sunrise. Bats generally begin returning with full stomachs to their daytime roosts about two hours before sunrise, and the last bats usually return approximately twenty minutes before sunrise. A colony of California leaf-nosed bats can consume up to 250,000 pounds of insects in one night. [2]
Kitti's hog-nosed bat, also known as the bumblebee bat, is a near-threatened species of bat and the only extant member of the family Craseonycteridae. It occurs in western Thailand and southeast Myanmar, where it occupies limestone caves along rivers.
The New World leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) are found from southern North America to South America, specifically from the Southwest United States to northern Argentina. They are ecologically the most varied and diverse family within the order Chiroptera. Most species are insectivorous, but the phyllostomid bats include within their number true predatory species and frugivores. For example, the spectral bat, the largest bat in the Americas, eats vertebrate prey, including small, dove-sized birds. Members of this family have evolved to use food groups such as fruit, nectar, pollen, insects, frogs, other bats, and small vertebrates, and in the case of the vampire bats, even blood.
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The Mexican free-tailed bat or Brazilian free-tailed bat is a medium-sized bat native to the Americas, so named because its tail can be almost half its total length and is not attached to its uropatagium. It has been claimed to have the fastest horizontal speed of any animal, reaching top ground speeds over 99 mph (160 km/h). It also flies the highest among bats, at altitudes around 3,300 m (10,800 ft).
The serotine bat, also known as the common serotine bat, big brown bat, or silky bat, is a fairly large Eurasian bat with quite large ears. It has a wingspan of around 37 cm (15 in) and often hunts in woodland. It sometimes roosts in buildings, hanging upside down, in small groups or individually. The name serotine is derived from the Latin serotinus, which means 'evening', while the generic name derives from Greek ἔπιεν and οίκος, which means 'house flyer'.
Wagner's bonneted bat or Wagner's mastiff bat, is a species of bat in the family Molossidae. It is found in the Americas from Argentina and Peru north to Mexico, and Cuba. Populations in Florida in the United States are now recognized as the Florida bonneted bat
The little big-eared bat is a bat species in the order Chiroptera and family Phyllostomidae. It is from South and Central America particularly Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Suriname and Trinidad. Though its exact population is unknown, it is considered widespread and occurs in protected areas, although deforestation may be a minor threat, it is classified as Least Concern. It is found in multistratal evergreen forests and dry thorn forests and forages near streams and is found hollow trees, logs, caverns, or houses with groups up to twelve. The head and body length measures at 44 millimetres (1.7 in) for males and 45 millimetres (1.8 in) for females. Males usually weigh about 5 grams (0.18 oz) while females weigh 5.7 grams (0.20 oz).
The western mastiff bat, also known as the western bonneted bat, the greater mastiff bat, or the greater bonneted bat, is a member of the free-tailed bat family, Molossidae. It is found in the Western United States, Mexico and South America. This species is the largest bat native to North America, and some of its distinguishing characteristics are its large ears, wings, and forearms. The subspecies Eumops perotis californicus is a species of concern as identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The range of this subspecies is principally southwest desert regions of the United States, along the border with Mexico; however, the range extends as far north on the Pacific coast as Alameda County, California.
The large slit-faced bat is a species of slit-faced bat with a broad distribution in forest and savanna habitats in West, Central, and East Africa. N. marica, is the available name for the southern savanna species if it is recognized as distinct from this species.
The Egyptian slit-faced bat is a species of slit-faced bat broadly distributed throughout Africa and the Middle East. It is a species of microbat in the family Nycteridae. Six subspecies are known.
The inland broad-nosed bat is a species of vesper bat. They are endemic to Australia and widespread throughout the inland, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. This insectivorous microbat, measuring 12 centimetres (4.7 in) in length, roosts in tree hollows during the day and forages over woodland and water at night.
The silver-haired bat is a solitary migratory species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae and the only member of the genus Lasionycteris.
The fringed myotis is a species of vesper bat that is found in British Columbia, Mexico, and the western United States.
The golden-tipped bat is a species of Microchiropteran in the family Vespertilionidae. It is found in Papua New Guinea and in Australia, especially scattered along the eastern part of Australia. The species is considered uncommon, and is listed as endangered in Australia.
The diadem leaf-nosed bat or diadem roundleaf bat is one of the most widespread species of bat in the family Hipposideridae. It is probably most closely related to Hipposideros demissus from Makira and to Hipposideros inornatus from the Northern Territory in Australia. Hipposideros diadema is found in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Macrotus is a genus of bats in the Neotropical family Phyllostomidae. This genus contains two species, Macrotus californicus commonly known as California leaf-nosed bat and Macrotus waterhousii commonly known as Mexican or Waterhouse's leaf-nosed bat. The range of this family includes the warmer parts of the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Bahama Islands. Characteristic for the genus are large ears and the name giving triangular skin flap above the nose, the "leaf". The California Leaf-nosed Bat inhabits the arid deserts of the southwestern United States as far north as Nevada, south to Baja California and Sonora, Mexico. The California Leaf-nosed Bat is of medium size, with a total length between 9 and 11 cm Its most distinctive features are the large ears, connected across the forehead. The body is pale grayish brown dorsally with whitish under parts. The pelage (fur) on the body is silky, the hairs on the back about 8 mm, on the front about 6 mm long. The posterior base of the ears are covered with hair of a woolly texture while the interior surface and most of the anterior border shows scattered long hairs. The flight membranes are thin and delicate; the wings are broad and the tail is slightly shorter that the long hind limbs and extends several millimeters beyond the uropatagium. Macrotus waterhousii is also a big eared Bat which has ranges from Sonora to Hidalgo Mexico, south to Guatemala and the Greater Antilles and Bahamas. This species roosts primarily in caves, but also in mines and buildings. This species is also insectivorous, primarily consuming insects of the order Lepidoptera and Orthoptera. The mating and parturition times of M. waterhousii vary from island to island with 4–5 months gestation.
Waterhouse's leaf-nosed bat is a species of big-eared bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is found in the Greater Antilles in the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Hispaniola and Jamaica, as well as Mexico south to Guatemala.
The smaller horseshoe bat is a species of bat in the family Rhinolophidae. It is found in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
The California myotis is a species of vesper bat. It is found in British Columbia in Canada, Guatemala, Mexico, and in the western United States, including California.
The Florida bonneted bat or Florida mastiff bat is a species of bat in the genus Eumops, the bonneted bats or mastiff bats. Until recently, it was classified as a subspecies of Wagner's bonneted bat. It is endemic to southern Florida in the United States. This species has one of the smallest geographical distributions of any New World bat. It has been called "one of the most critically endangered mammal species in North America". It is protected under the Endangered Species Act.
