Microbats constitute the suborder Microchiroptera within the order Chiroptera (bats). Bats have long been differentiated into Megachiroptera (megabats) and Microchiroptera, based on their size, the use of echolocation by the Microchiroptera and other features; molecular evidence suggests a somewhat different subdivision, as the microbats have been shown to be a paraphyletic group.
The New World leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) are bats 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.
The Honduran white bat, also called the Caribbean white tent-making bat, is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomatidae. It is the only member of the genus Ectophylla. The genus and the species were both scientifically described for the first time in 1892. It has distinctive, entirely white fur, which is only found in six of the roughly 1,300 known species of bat. It constructs "tents" out of understory plant leaves by strategically cutting the leaf ribs with its teeth; it roosts in these tents during the day. It is a specialist frugivore, consuming almost exclusively the fruits of one species of fig. Females can likely become pregnant twice per year, giving birth to one offspring at a time.
The chestnut short-tailed bat is a bat species from South and Central America. The species is often confused with the Benkeith's short-tailed bat. It is a mainly frugivorous species that has been known to consume insects. To determine which pipers to forage on, it focuses on odour and then after proceeds to echolocate to determine position. It hunts between nightfall and midnight. Habitats include hollow trees, caves, cracks, abandoned mines, sewers, and house roofs. It does not decrease activity during full moons, only instances of turbulent weather like heavy rain. In an agricultural setting it has a higher resistance to habitat fragmentation compared to similar bat species.
Seba's short-tailed bat is a common and widespread bat species in the family Phyllostomidae. They are found in Central America, the northern parts of South America, and in the Antilles islands.
Anoura is a genus of leaf-nosed bats from Central and South America. Anoura members lack or have a short tail, and are nectarivorous bats of small to medium size among the Phyllostomidae.
The gray short-tailed bat, or Hahn's short-tailed bat, is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae native to Mexico and Central America.
Carolliinae is a subfamily of bats.
Benkeith's short-tailed bat is a leaf-nosed bat species found in Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. It very closely resembles the chestnut short-tailed bat, and the two species are likely often confused.
