Pallid bat

Pallid bat
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Vespertilionidae
Subfamily: Vespertilioninae
Tribe: Antrozoini
Genus: Antrozous
Species: A. pallidus
Binomial name
Antrozous pallidus
(LeConte, 1856)[2]

The Pallid Bat (Antrozous pallidus) is a species of bat that ranges from western Canada to central Mexico. It is the sole species of its genus and is closely related to Van Gelder's Bat (Bauerus dubiaquercus), which is sometimes included in Antrozous.[3] Although it has in the past been placed in its own subfamily (Antrozoinae) or even family (Antrozoidae), it is now considered part of the subfamily Vespertilioninae and the tribe Antrozoini.[4]

Pallid bats have larger eyes than most other species of bats in North America and have pale, long, and wide ears; their fur is generally lightly colored. They have on average a total length of 92 to 135 mm (3.6 to 5.3 in).

Pallid Bats are insectivores that feed on arthropods such as crickets and scorpions, and are capable of consuming up to half their weight in arthropods every night. Although they normally catch their prey on the ground, they usually transport their prey to their night roost to eat it.

The mating season ranges from October to February. The female bat gives birth to twins during early June; they weigh approximately 3 to 3.5 g (0.11 to 0.12 oz) at birth and in four or five weeks are capable of making short flights. They don't attain adult size until about eight weeks of age, and don't become sexually mature until after approximately two years.

Their large ears allow them to hear the footsteps of insects on the ground and they use their voices to make ultrasonic sounds that bounce back to their ears. The reflected sound waves let them sense flying insects and know the environment they are flying through.

Pallid bats are a unique type of bat because they are heterothermic, which means that, depending on the time of year, they can be either poikilothermic or homoeothermic. They have the ability to control their body temperature and equilibrate it with the environment during winter hibernation and whenever they rest.

They primarily sleep in rock crevices and buildings. Pallid bats are skilled at climbing and crawling.

References

  1. ^ Arroyo-Cabrales, J. & de Grammont, P.C. (2008). "Antrozous pallidus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/1790. Retrieved 07 February 2010. 
  2. ^ Simmons, Nancy B. (1998). T.H. Kunz and P.A. Racey. ed. "A reappraisal of interfamilial relationships of bats". Bat Biology and Conservation (Smithsonian Institution Press): 3–26. 
  3. ^ Simmons, Nancy B. (2005). "Order Chiroptera". In Wilson, Don E.; Reeder, DeeAnn M. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 498–499. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. 
  4. ^ Roehrs, Z.P.; Lack, J.B.; Van Den Bussche, R.A. (2010). "Tribal phylogenetic relationships within Vespertilioninae (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data". Journal of Mammalogy 91 (5): 1073–1092. doi:10.1644/09-MAMM-A-325.1. 

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Antrozous_pallidus Antrozous pallidus] at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Antrozous pallidus at Wikispecies