| Wagner's mustached bat | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Mormoopidae |
| Genus: | Pteronotus |
| Species: | P. personatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pteronotus personatus Wagner, 1843 | |
| Subspecies | |
P. p. personatus | |
 | |
Wagner's mustached bat (Pteronotus personatus) is a bat species from South and Central America. It is one of the few New World bats species known to perform Doppler shift compensation behavior. [3]
Wagner's mustached bat is a relatively small bat, with a head-body length of 6 to 6.7 centimetres (2.4 to 2.6 in) and a tail 1.5 to 1.8 centimetres (0.59 to 0.71 in) long. There are two color phases, with some individuals having blackish-brown fur over the back and head with drab grey underparts, and others being clay-brown to reddish yellow with buff or cinnamon underparts. Individuals of both color phases can be found together in the same cave. [4]
The ears are long and pointed, with sharp serrations along the medial edges and a spatulate tragus including a shelf-like fold. The upper lip has a number of heavy bristles and surrounds the nose, with numerous folds and small projections along its edge. The snout is raised upwards, while the remainder of the skull is relatively flattened. The incisor teeth are reduced in size, but have a complex shape with two or three lobes. [5]
The wing membranes reach the ankles of the bat, which are also attached to a large uropatagium, with the short tail emerging near the middle of the upper surface. [5] The wings are long and narrow, normally a feature that enables rapid flight. Because of the small size of Wagner's mustached bat, however, it does not fly as quickly as other related species with a similar wing shape; flight speeds between 10 and 19.6 km/h (6.2 and 12.2 mph) have been recorded. [6]
Females come into estrus once a year, and give birth to a single young near the beginning of the rainy season in June or July. [4]
Wagner's mustached bat is found in tropical Mexico are far north as Sonora and Tamaulipas, and through the central and western parts of Central America. In South America, it is found along the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico as far east as Suriname, and in a band running from the Pacific coast of Colombia though eastern Ecuador, central Peru, northern Bolivia and across central Brazil from Mato Grosso to the Atlantic coast. [4]
The bat inhabits forested environments, ranging from tropical rainforest to dry deciduous forest, at elevations of up to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). They commonly hunt for insects along rivers, streams, or arroyos, often travelling along local canyons. [4]
There are two recognised subspecies:
Fossils of Wagner's mustached bat have been found on Tobago, indicating that it may once have had a wider range than it has today. The fossils date from the late Pleistocene. [7]
The two subspecies were formerly considered to be separate species, and it has recently been argued that they should once again be raised to species status. [8] P. p. psilotis is distinguished by being smaller and paler than P. p. personatus. Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that Wagner's mustached bat does not have a common ancestor with the other members of its supposed subgenus, Chilonycteris , and should instead be assigned its own subgenus; [9] as yet, no formal change to the classification has been made.
Wagner's Mustached Bat roosts in hot, humid, caves during the day, with colonies that commonly range from 100 to 10,000 individuals, although a few larger colonies are known. [10] They prefer caves that maintain a steady temperature of between 30 and 36 °C (86 and 97 °F), and begins to suffer from hypothermia at ambient temperatures below 20 °C (68 °F). [11] The roosts are commonly shared with numerous other species of bat, and the Wagner's mustached bats may account for only a small minority of the bats in any given cave. [10]
The bat echolocates using a rapid series of constant frequency pulses followed by longer frequency modulated sweeps, although contradictory estimates of ultrasonic frequency and range have been reported in different studies. It was one of only a few bat species to use Doppler-shift compensatory behavior. As the bat flies through the air, the frequency of returning echoes changes due to Doppler shifting; Wagner's mustached bat is capable of changing the frequency of its emitted ultrasonic pulses to compensate for this effect. This helps it navigate easily while flying at relatively high speed through dense forest foliage. [3]
Echolocation, also called bio sonar, is a biological active sonar used by several animal groups, both in the air and underwater. Echolocating animals emit calls and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from various objects near them. They use these echoes to locate and identify the objects. Echolocation is used for navigation, foraging, and hunting prey.
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 spectral bat, also called the great false vampire bat, great spectral bat, American false vampire bat or Linnaeus's false vampire bat, is a large, carnivorous leaf-nosed bat found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. It is the only member of the genus Vampyrum; its closest living relative is the big-eared woolly bat. It is the largest bat species in the New World, as well as the largest carnivorous bat: its wingspan is 0.7–1.0 m (2.3–3.3 ft). It has a robust skull and teeth, with which it delivers a powerful bite to kill its prey. Birds are frequent prey items, though it may also consume rodents, insects, and other bats.
The Jamaican, common, or Mexican fruit bat is a frugivorous bat species native to the Neotropics.
The family Mormoopidae contains bats known generally as mustached bats, ghost-faced bats, and naked-backed bats. They are found in the Americas from the Southwestern United States to Southeastern Brazil.
Parnell's mustached bat is an insectivorous bat native to the Americas. It ranges from southern Sonora, Mexico, south to Brazil. It has a wider historical range; fossil specimens have been collected on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas.
The big naked-backed bat, is a bat species from South and Central America.
Davy's (lesser) naked-backed bat is a small, insect-eating, cave-dwelling bat of the Family Mormoopidae. It is found throughout South and Central America, including Trinidad, but not Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, or French Guiana. Specimens of this bat had been found infected with rabies in Trinidad during the height of that island's vampire-bat-transmitted rabies epidemic of the early half of the 20th century, but not in recent times.
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.
Sundevall's roundleaf bat, also called Sundevall's leaf-nosed bat, is a species of bat in the family Hipposideridae.
The greater long-nosed bat or Mexican long-nosed bat is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is found in Mexico and the United States. It chiefly consumes pollen and nectar, particularly from agave plants and cacti. Its habitat includes desert scrub and open woodlands, however, it is threatened by habitat loss.
Macleay's mustached bat is a species of bat in the family Mormoopidae. It is found in Cuba and Jamaica, and is threatened by habitat loss. The species is named for William Sharp Macleay, who collected the type specimen.
The sooty mustached bat is a species of bat in the family Mormoopidae. It is found in throughout the Greater Antilles, in Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico.
When an echolocating bat approaches a target, its outgoing sounds return as echoes, which are Doppler shifted upward in frequency. In certain species of bats, which produce constant frequency (CF) echolocation calls, the bats compensate for the Doppler shift by changing their call frequency as they change speed towards a target. This keeps the returning echo in the same frequency range as the normal echolocation call. This dynamic frequency modulation is called the Doppler shift compensation (DSC), and was discovered by Hans Schnitzler in 1968.
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.
The Cuban greater funnel-eared bat is a species of funnel-eared bat. It is endemic to a cave in westernmost Cuba.
The pristine mustached bat is an extinct Late Quaternary species of bat in the endemic Neotropical family Mormoopidae. It was distributed in Cuba and possibly Florida.
The Paraguana moustached bat occurs only on the Paraguaná Peninsula of Venezuela. The entire population uses three caves, one of which is subject to human vandalism. Their total range is less than 400 km2 (150 sq mi). In 2008, the caves where the bat is found were protected by the creation of the Cuevas de Paraguaná Wildlife Sanctuary–the first wildlife sanctuary in Venezuela.
Eumops ferox, the fierce bonneted bat or the chestnut mastiff bat, is a species of free-tailed bat found in the Caribbean and Mexico. Until recently, it was synonymous with Wagner's bonneted bat.
