| Insular single leaf bat | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Phyllostomidae |
| Genus: | Monophyllus |
| Species: | M. plethodon |
| Binomial name | |
| Monophyllus plethodon Miller, 1900 | |
 | |
The insular single leaf bat [1] or Lesser Antillean long-tongued bat [2] (Monophyllus plethodon) is a species of leaf-nosed bat. It is found on the Lesser Antilles islands in the Caribbean Sea.
The insular single leaf bat was described as a new species in 1900 by Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. The holotype had been collected by P. McDonough in Saint Michael, Barbados. [3]
Three subspecies are recognized: M. p. plethodon, M. p. luciae, and M. p. prater, [4] with the Puerto Rican long-nosed bat (M. p. prater) extinct. [5]
It is a large member of the genus Monophyllus . It can be distinguished from similar species by its crowded upper premolars. The forearm is 38.8–45.7 mm (1.53–1.80 in) long; the total body length is 67–84 mm (2.6–3.3 in); and the tail is 8–16 mm (0.31–0.63 in) long. It weighs about 12.5–17.2 g (0.44–0.61 oz). The dental formula is 2.1.2.32.1.3.3 for a total of 34 teeth. [4]
The insular single leaf bat is distributed widely throughout the Lesser Antilles, occurring in Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Barbados; Bermuda; the Caribbean Netherlands; Dominica; Guadeloupe; Martinique; Montserrat; Saint Barthélemy; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Martin, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It utilizes a variety of habitats including forests and agricultural landscapes at elevation os 0–550 m (0–1,804 ft) above sea level. [1]
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 fauna of Puerto Rico is similar to other island archipelago faunas, with high endemism, and low, skewed taxonomic diversity. Bats are the only extant native terrestrial mammals in Puerto Rico. All other terrestrial mammals in the area were introduced by humans, and include species such as cats, goats, sheep, the small Indian mongoose, and escaped monkeys. Marine mammals include dolphins, manatees, and whales. Of the 349 bird species, about 120 breed in the archipelago, and 47.5% are accidental or rare.
The Antillean fruit-eating bat is one of two leaf-nosed bat species belonging to the genus Brachyphylla. The species occurs in the Caribbean from Puerto Rico to St. Vincent and Barbados. Fossil specimens have also been recorded from New Providence, Bahamas.
The Guadeloupe big-eyed bat is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is found in Guadeloupe and Montserrat. It is threatened by habitat loss mostly because of Hurricane Hugo, which destroyed 90% of its population in 1989. The species may be locally extinct in some areas of Guadeloupe.
Monophyllus, the Antillean long-tongued bats or single leaf bats, is a genus of bats in the family Phyllostomidae. They are distributed on the Antilles.
Leach's single leaf bat, also known as Greater Antillean long-tongued bat, is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is found in the southern Bahamas and in all the Greater Antilles. It forms large colonies, with up to a few hundred thousand individuals, and feeds on a relatively wide variety of food items including pollen, nectar, fruit and insects.
Glossophaginae is a subfamily of leaf-nosed bats.
A unique and diverse albeit phylogenetically restricted mammal fauna is known from the Caribbean region. The region—specifically, all islands in the Caribbean Sea and the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Barbados, which are not in the Caribbean Sea but biogeographically belong to the same Caribbean bioregion—has been home to several families found nowhere else, but much of this diversity is now extinct.
The Barbados leaf-toed gecko is a species of gecko endemic to the Caribbean island-nation of Barbados. It is the only known leaf-toed gecko in the Lesser Antilles.
Artibeus schwartzi, or Schwartz's fruit-eating bat, is a species of bat found in the Lesser Antilles. It was previously considered a subspecies of the Jamaican fruit bat,. It has been hypothesized that it arose from hybridization of three Artibeus species: A. jamaicensis, A. planirostris, and an unknown third species.
The Barbados myotis is a species of bat found in the Lesser Antilles. It was previously considered a subspecies of Schwartz's myotis, Myotis martiniquensis, but was elevated to species rank in 2012.
