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.
The lesser long-nosed bat is a medium-sized bat found in Central and North America. It is sometimes known as Sanborn's long-nosed bat or the Mexican long-nosed bat, though the latter name is better avoided since it is also used for the entire genus Leptonycteris and for one of the other species in it, the greater long-nosed bat.
The long-tongued nectar bat, also known as the northern blossom bat, honey nectar bat, least blossom-bat, dagger-toothed long-nosed fruit bat, and lesser long-tongued fruit bat, is a species of megabat. M. minimus is one of the smallest species in the family Pteropodidae, with an average length of 60–85 mm. It has a reddish-brown colouring with relatively long hair compared to the other species. The hair on the abdomen is a lighter colour, and a dark brown stripe runs bilaterally down the top of the head and back.
The dark long-tongued bat is a species of bat from South and Central America. It was formerly considered the only species within the genus Lichonycteris, but is now recognized as one of two species in that genus, along with the pale brown long-nosed bat. It is small species of bat, with adults weighing 6–11 g (0.21–0.39 oz) and having a total length of 46–63 mm (1.8–2.5 in).
The tent-making bat is an American leaf-nosed bat (Phyllostomidae) found in lowland forests of Central and South America. This medium-sized bat has a gray coat with a pale white stripe running down the middle of the back. Its face is characterized by a fleshy noseleaf and four white stripes. Primarily a frugivore, it may supplement its diet with insects, flower parts, pollen, and nectar. Its common name comes from its curious behavior of constructing tents out of large, fan-shaped leaves. These roosts provide excellent protection from the tropical rains, and a single tent roost may house several bats at once. This bat is quite common in its geographic range; hence, its conservation status is listed as Least Concern.
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.
Macroglossus is a genus of megabats found in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. It has two species:
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.
The Mexican long-tongued bat is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is the only species within the genus Choeronycteris. The species is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and the United States.
The greater short-nosed fruit bat, or short-nosed Indian fruit bat, is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae found in South and Southeast Asia.
The straw-coloured fruit bat is a large fruit bat that is the most widely distributed of all the African megabats. It is quite common throughout its area ranging from the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, across forest and savanna zones of sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List due to a decreasing population trend. Straw-coloured fruit bats travel in massive colonies of at least 100,000 bats and sometimes massing up to 1 million. From October to end of December every year, in the largest migration of mammals on the planet, up to 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats congregate in Kasanka National Park, Zambia, roosting in a 2 hectare area of Mushitu forest each day. This migration was only discovered in 1980. Their necks and backs are a yellowish-brown colour, while their undersides are tawny olive or brownish.
The Gambian epauletted fruit bat is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, and Togo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and savanna.
The buffy flower bat is a species of bat in the leaf-nosed bat family, Phyllostomidae. It is found in the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, and Jamaica.
The southern long-nosed bat is a South American species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae.
The black-bellied fruit bat is a species of order bat in the family Pteropodidae.
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.
The Jamaican flower bat is a critically endangered species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is endemic to Jamaica.
The large flying fox, also known as the greater flying fox, Malayan flying fox, Malaysian flying fox, large fruit bat, kalang, or kalong, is a southeast Asian species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. Despite its scientific name, it feeds exclusively on fruits, nectar, and flowers, like the other flying foxes of the genus Pteropus. It is noted for being one of the largest bats. As with nearly all other Old World fruit bats, it lacks the ability to echolocate but compensates for it with well-developed eyesight.
The megabat tribe Macroglossini is within the subfamily Pteropodinae
The brown flower bat is a species of bat from the family Phyllostomidae. It is native to the island of Hispaniola, present in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. In most cases, the brown flower bat is recognized as part of the buffy flower bat, and there are two recognized subspecies: Erophylla bombifrons bombifrons and Erophylla bombifrons santacristobalensis.
