Dog-headed bats
| Dog-headed bats | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Peropteryx | ||||||||||||
| Peters , 1867 |
The dog-headed bats ( Peropteryx ) are a genus from the family of the smooth-nosed cantilever tails (Emballonuridae), whose representatives are native to Central and South America.
description
Representatives of the bats have a head-torso length of 45 to 55 mm and a forearm length of 38 to 54 mm. The ears of Peropteryx macrotis , P. trinitatis and P. kappleri are separated from each other, while those of P. leucoptera are connected by a membrane above the head. The genus differs from sack-winged bats (genus Saccopteryx ) by the lack of white stripes on the back of the otherwise brown fur, as well as by the shape and position of the wing pouches. In the dog-headed bats , the pockets are at the top of the flight membrane and open outwards, while the pockets of the sac-winged bats are near the elbow on the forearm and open upwards.
Way of life
The dog-headed bats species, like most bats, are nocturnal and feed on insects. The genus is found in a wide variety of habitats such as forests, swamps, savannas, and agricultural areas. The animals spend the day in caves, crevices, ruins, hollow trees and on buttress roots. Unlike most bats, they do not hang from a horizontal surface, but from a vertical surface, whereby they bend the wings at a 45 ° angle from the body and maintain a certain distance from one another. The group sizes vary between 10 and 33 individuals.
Types and distribution
There are five types:
- Large dog-headed bat ( Peropteryx kappleri ) Peters , 1867 - south of Mexico to Bolivia and south of Brazil .
- White-winged dog-headed bat ( Peropteryx leucoptera ) ( Peters , 1867) - Northern half of South America.
- Small dog-headed bat ( Peropteryx macrotis ) ( Wagner , 1843) - southern Mexico to Paraguay .
- Trinidad dog-headed bat ( Peropteryx trinitatis ) ( Matschie , 1897) - On Trinidad and Tobago , Grenada and Nueva Esparta .
- Pale-winged dog-headed bat ( Peropteryx pallidoptera ) ( Lim et al. , 2010) - The species was only described in 2010 and is known from three locations in Peru and Ecuador .
Distribution area of Peropteryx kappleri
Distribution area of Peropteryx leucoptera
Distribution area of Peropteryx macrotis
Distribution area of Peropteryx trinitatis
literature
- RM Nowak (1994): Walker's Bats of the World , Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr., ISBN 0-8018-4986-1 , p. 98
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lim, BK, Engstrom, MD, Reid, FA, Simmons, NB, Voss, RS, & Fleck, DW (2010): A new species of Peropteryx (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae) from western Amazonia with comments on phylogenetic relationships within the genus . American Museum Novitates, 1-20.
