Antilles fruit vampires
| Antilles fruit vampires | ||||||||||||
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Brachyphylla cavernarum |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the subfamily | ||||||||||||
| Brachyphyllinae | ||||||||||||
| JE Gray , 1866 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Brachyphylla | ||||||||||||
| JE Gray , 1834 |
The Antilles fruit vampires ( Brachyphylla ) are a species of bat from the family of leaf noses (Phyllostomidae), where they are listed in their own subfamily, Brachyphyllinae.
The fur of these animals is yellowish or ivory-colored on the upper side, shoulders, neck and flanks are white and the underside is brownish. The muzzle is conical, there is no nasal blade, only a horseshoe-shaped ball around the nose. The ears are medium-sized, the tail is missing. With a length of 7 to 12 centimeters and a weight of 45 to 67 grams, they are among the medium-sized bats.
These bats live in the Antilles , their range extends from Cuba to Barbados . During the day they sleep in caves or buildings, often in large groups of up to 10,000 animals. At night they go in search of food, they are omnivores and consume nectar, pollen, seeds, fruits and insects.
There are two types:
- Brachyphylla nana is the smaller of the two species. She lives in Cuba , Hispaniola , the Cayman Islands, and the Caicos Islands . It becameextinct in Jamaica and the Bahamas , probably in prehistoric times. The IUCN lists them as low risk.
- Brachyphylla cavernarum is slightly larger. The species lives on Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles to Barbados.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 ISBN 0801857899