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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
short-tailed
fruit bat, short-tailed leaf-nosed bat, fruit bat,
leaf-nosed bat, New World bat |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Mammalia |
| ORDER: |
Chiroptera |
| FAMILY: |
Phyllostomidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Carollia
perspicillata (spectacle) |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
This
is a dark to rusty brown bat with large ears, a
short tail, and a leaf like protrusion on the top
of the nose. |
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| SIZE: |
Approximately
48-65 mm head and body length |
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| DIET: |
Over
50 different varieties of fruit such as guavas,
bananas, wild figs, and plantains; also pollen and
insects |
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| GESTATION: |
Gestation
lasts approximately 2.5-3 months |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
Approximately
1 year |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
Averages
2.5 years, but can live up to 10 years |
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| RANGE: |
Southern
Mexico to southern Brazil and Paraguay, some islands
in the Lesser Antilles |
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| HABITAT: |
Inhabits
humid, tropical evergreen forests |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
Unknown |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Not
listed |
| CITES |
Not
listed |
| USFWS |
Not
listed |
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| 1. |
There are over 1,000 different species of bats,
and they occur on every continent except Antarctica.
Only the mammal order Rodentia numbers more species.
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| 2. |
The scientific name for bats, Chiroptera, means,
"hand-wing." This refers to the fact that
their wings are made from folds of skin stretched
between their elongated finger and hand bones and
connected to their hind legs and sides. |
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| 3. |
Bats "perch" on branches upside down by
locking the tendons in their feet and using their
curved claws, which allows them to hook onto perching
surfaces. Bats have to actually expend energy to
"unhook" their feet. |
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| 4. |
Short-tailed
fruit bats spend the day roosting in caves, mines,
culverts, hollow trees, and buildings. At night
each individual may go to multiple feeding sites,
flying an average of five kilometers. |
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| 5. |
They
live in two kinds of groups (generally 10-100 individuals):
A harem is a small group of adult females with young
and an adult male. The second, a bachelor group,
is comprised of bachelor males and sub-adult females. |
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| 6. |
When
food is scarce, these bats will enter torpor, a
sluggish state, to conserve energy. |
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| 7. |
The
members of this family all share a common trait
- their mouth looks like a leaf. Phyllostomidae
translates to mean, "leaf mouth". |
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| 8. |
These
small mammals have high metabolism; food travels
through a fruit bat's digestive system in about
30 minutes. |
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Bats are very important seed dispersers and pollinators
of flowers, trees, and shrubs. In fact, up to 90%
of rainforest growth is attributed to the seeds
from bat droppings. Even managed crops such as bananas,
avocados, vanillas, and peaches are dependent upon
bats for pollination.
As a source of prey, bats are important to animals
such as snakes and birds of prey.
Bats are also important as a food source to humans
in some areas.
Bats in captivity serve as important models for
research in endangered species management and conservation
education. They also hold immeasurable value as
participants in scientific and medical studies.
Destruction of their habitat due to population growth
and forest clearing are among the major threats
to their population.
Bats are also the victims of a misinformed public.
There are many misconceptions about the spread of
rabies caused by bats. Less than one-half of one
percent of bats contracts rabies, and since bats
do not readily attack humans, they pose little threat
to people who do not handle them. In fact, most
bats will spend their entire lives without ever
coming into contact with humans. However, if a sick
or injured bat is found on the ground, a trained
adult wearing leather gloves should handle it. |
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|
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Fleming, T. The Short-tailed Fruit Bat, A Study
in Plant Animal Interactions. Chicago: The University
of Chicago Co., Inc., 1987. |
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Hill, J. E., and Smith, J. D. Bats, A Natural
History. Austin: University of Texas Press,
1986. |
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Nowak, R. M. Walker's Mammals of the World
Vol. 1. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1991.
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| Bat
Conservation International. www.batcon.org |
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| http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/ |
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