Fringe-lipped Bat

On

Fringe-lipped Bat
Fringe-lipped bat
Trachops cirrhosus
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Phyllostomidae
Genus: Trachops
Species: T. cirrhosus
Binomial name
Trachops cirrhosus
(Spix, 1823)

The Fringe-lipped Bat (Trachops cirrhosus), also known as the Frog-eating Bat, is a leaf-nosed bat. It has three subspecies currently known today. It ranges from southern Mexico to Bolivia and southern Brazil. The species is monotypic within its genus.

Contents

Description

The fringe-lipped bat has a total length of 7.84 mm on average and weighs 6.33 g. Its pelage is long and woolly and its fur extends halfway along the forearm. It has cinnamon to dark brown upper side and dull brownish under side that are tinged with grayish brown.[1] The bat has large and erect ears which are adapted for low frequency hearing. Its chin and lips are studded with conical or cylindrical wart-like protuberances and has a noseleaf with a serrated edge.[2] The tail of this species is short and protrudes though the dorsum of the interfermoral membrane.[1] The fringe-lipped bat has a large and elongated skull with a well-developed sagittal crest.[2] Its braincase is rounded and elevated above an elongated rostrum.[1] The dental formula is Upper: 2.2.1.1, lower: 2.3.3.3.[1]

Compared with other bats, the fringe-lipped bat has a low wing-aspect ratio and a high wing loading.[3] This means that the fringe-lipped bat must fly faster than other bat species do, to maintain lift. Also the higher tip index of this species reduces drag and enhances speed and maneuverability when in flight.[3] The bat’s echolocation calls are adapted for finding prey in dense, cluttered environments.[4] It emits broad-bandwidth calls that are of low-intensity and short duration.

Ecology and behavior

The fringe-lipped bat lives in southern Mexico to the Guianas and in parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Trinidad.[5] The species generally lives at elevations lower than 500m. Bats are found mostly in tropical dry and moist forests.[6][7] and sometimes near ponds or streams. They prefer to roost in trees and hollow logs.[8][1] However, they have also been found roosting in caves, culverts, buildings and an abandoned railroad.[2]

Fringe-lipped bats roost in groups that number up to 50 individuals and the sexes may roost together.[2] The species is omnivorous and will opportunistically consume nearly anything it can catch and overpower.[9] Insects make up most of the bat’s diet, in particular coleopterans and, to a lesser extent, orthopterans.[2] It also eats lizards and frogs, as well as fruits and seeds.[2] The fringe-lipped bat uses echolocation to find food.[10] It can respond to relatively low frequencies calls like those of frogs. The bat can discriminate between calls of different frog species.[11] Experiments have shown that bats respond more to calls of non-poisonous species and they also appear more often to the calls of species that are smaller and easier to handle.[11] It may be that predation by this species influenced the evolution of frog vocalizations in the tropics. It is possible that the fringe-lipped bat forages in flight and will consume non-airborne prey[12] but other evidence suggests that the bat employs and sit-and-wait strategy when hunting.[13] The fringe-lipped bat breeds from January to June, the dry season, in the tropics. [14] A female tend to birth one offspring each litter.[15] Little is known about the embryonic development, parturition and parental care in this species. However, there is some evidence that the young associate with a parent for quite some time.[16]

Conservation

The current conservation status of Trachops cirrhosus is least concern because their populations are currently stable.[17] Because it is stable there are no conservation action plans. But because of its feeding habits they are placed in a precarious position which puts them at risk from human activity.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Goodwin, G. G. and A. M. Greenhall. 1961. "A review of the bats of Trinidad and Tobago. Descriptions, rabies infection and ecology". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 122:187–302.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Cramer, M.J., Willig, M.R., & Jones, C. 2001. "Trachops cirrhosus". Mammalian Species. 656:1-6.
  3. ^ a b Smith, J. D. and A. Starrett. 1979. "Morphometric analysis of chiropteran wings". Pp. 229–316 in Biology of bats of the New World family Phyllostomatidae. Part III (R. J. Baker, J. K. Jones, Jr., and D. C. Carter, eds.). Special Publications, The Museum, Texas Tech University. 16:1–441.
  4. ^ Belwood, J. J. 1988. "Foraging behavior, prey selection, and echolocation in phyllostomine bats (Phyllostomidae)". Pp. 601–605 in Animal sonar (P. E. Nachtigall and P. W. B. Moore, eds.). Plenum Press, New York.
  5. ^ Koopman, K. F. 1993. "Order Chiroptera". Pp. 137–241 in Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second ed. (D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder, eds.). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
  6. ^ Fleming, T. H., E. T. Hooper, and D. E. Wilson. 1972. "Three Central American bat communities: structure, reproductive cycles, and movement patterns". Ecology 53:555–569.
  7. ^ Willig, M. R. and M. A. Mares. 1989. "Mammals from the Caatinga: an updated list and summary of recent research". Revista Brasileira de Biologia 49:361–367.
  8. ^ Patterson, B. D. 1992. "Mammals in the Royal Natural History Museum", Stockholm, collected in Brazil and Bolivia by A. M. Olalla during 1934–1938 Fieldiana:. Zoology (New Series) 66:1–42.
  9. ^ Pine, R. H. and J. E. Anderson. 1979. "Notes on stomach contents in Trachops cirrhosus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomatidae)". Mammalia 43:568–570.
  10. ^ Barclay, R. M R., M. B. Fenton, M. D. Tuttle, and M. J. Ryan. 1981. "Echolocation calls produced by Trachops cirrhosus while hunting frogs". Canadian Journal of Zoology 59:750–753.
  11. ^ a b Ryan, M. J. and M. D. Tuttle. 1983. "The ability of the frog-eating bat to discriminate among novel and potentially poisonous frog species using acoustic cues". Animal Behaviour 31:827–833.
  12. ^ Fenton, M. B. 1990. "The foraging behaviour and ecology of animal-eating bats". Canadian Journal of Zoology 68:411–422.
  13. ^ Kalko, E. K V., C. O. Handley, Jr., and D. Handley. 1996. "Organization, diversity, and long-term dynamics of a Neotropical bat community". Pp. 503–553 in Long-term studies of vertebrate communities (M. L. Cody and J. A. Smallwood, eds.). Academic Press, San Diego, California.
  14. ^ Willig, M. R. 1985. "Reproductive activity of female bats from northeast Brazil". Bat Research News 26:17–20.
  15. ^ Burt, W. H. and R. A. Stirton. 1961. The mammals of El Salvador. Miscellaneous Publications, The Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan 117:1–69.
  16. ^ Eisenberg, J. F. 1989. Mammals of the Neotropics. University of Chicago Press, Illinois.
  17. ^ *Miller, B., Reid, F., Arroyo-Cabrales, J., Cuarón, A.D. & de Grammont, P.C. (2008). Trachops cirrhosus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 4 March 2009.

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