The Antillean ghost-faced bat (''Mormoops blainvillei'') is a species of

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...

in the family

Mormoopidae The family Mormoopidae contains bats known generally as mustached bats, ghost-faced bats, and naked-backed bats. They are found in the Americas from the Southwestern United States to Southeastern Brazil. They are distinguished by the presence ...

. It is found in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

Description

These bats range in color from a pale cinnamon to a more reddish color, showing darker pigmentation on the

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

side as opposed to the

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek language, Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. Th ...

. No molting specimens have been observedSilva Taboada, G. 1979. Los Murciélagos de Cuba. Editorial Academia, La Habana, 423 pp. and no geographic variation in color has been studied, observed or documented. Like other species in the ''

Mormoops ''Mormoops'' is a genus of bat in the family Mormoopidae. It contains the following species: * Antillean ghost-faced bat (''Mormoops blainvillii'') * Giant ghost-faced bat (†''Mormoops magna'') * Ghost-faced bat The ghost-faced bat (''Morm ...

'' genus, the Antillean ghost-faced bat shows elaborate, intricate facial outgrowths and leaflike appendages. The face features nostrils located on a fleshy pad, and coarse bristles protruding from both lips.Anthony, H. E. 1918. Indigenous land mammals of Porto Rico, living and extinct. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, New Series, 2:394-435.

Fossil record

The fossil record for this species is limited and sparse, but the evidence found indicates a wider range which previously extended to all of the Caribbean islands as well as

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

.Koopman, K. F., Hecht, M. K., and Ledecky-Janecek, E. 1957. Notes on the mammals of the Bahamas with special reference to bats. Journal of Mammalogy, 38:164-174.

Ecology

The Antillean ghost-faced bat has been predominantly observed roosting in deeper, more sheltered caves or abandoned mine shafts, as opposed to caves with multiple entrances. Here, it coexists with other bat species. Analysis of stomach contents has shown that these bats feed exclusively on insects, which they catch utilizing a pouch formed by the large leaflike tail membrane. Target prey, mostly moths, are caught in midair.

Behavior

M. blainvilli is a strictly nocturnal species. The onset of activity varies from 22 to 55 minutes after sunset. This late onset has been associated with the peak activity of

lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

ns, which are their preferred prey. The flight of this bat is faster and higher than that of other bats in its genus, and a distinct humming sound has been correlated with its flight.Goodwin, R. E. 1970. The ecology of Jamaican bats. Journal of Mammalogy, 51:571–579. They are known to use the same biosonar vocalizations as in other echolocating bats. As the bat searches for a target (typically moths), it produces search signals with an average duration of 1.8 ms, which change from a shallow FM-sweep to a steep one. When approaching its target, M. blainvilli reduces the duration of its vocalizations. In the terminal phase, it produces a higher number of calls which are drastically shorter in duration.Schnitzler, H. U., Kaipf, I. and Mogdans, J. 1991. Comparative studies of echolocation and hunting behavior in the four species of mormoopid bats of Jamaica. Bat research News, 32:22-23. The morphology of ''M. blainvilli'' is similar to '' M. megalophylla'', as the main adaptations by ''Mormoops'' bats are to reduce body weight to increase flying ability. These adaptations include decreased muscular structures, some of which are absent altogether as compared to species of Phyllostomidae. These restrictions result in a decreased range of extension.Vaughn, T. A., and Bateman, G. C. 1970. Functional morphology of the forelimb of mormoopid bats. Journal of Mammalogy, 51:217-235. The aspect ratio of the wings of one bat were calculated as 6.23, similar to ''M. megalophylla''.Smith, J. D., and Starrett, A. 1979. Morphometric analysis of chriopteran 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, Lubbock, 441 pp. These characteristics are hypothesized to give the bat an advantage in terms of flight endurance, and have been adapted for its insectivorous diet.

Biology

The mating season begins with copulation spanning from January to February. From March to May, pregnancies occur, and the earliest births occur in June. Weaning is completed from August to September, and in October to December, females are non-responsive to mating. Each reproductive female typically bears one child per year, with twins being reported in only two instances. The thermoneutral zone for M. blainvilli extends from 31 to 34 °C, and body temperature is maintained between these two temperatures over a wide range of

ambient temperature Colloquially, "room temperature" is a range of air temperatures that most people prefer for indoor settings. It feels comfortable to a person when they are wearing typical indoor clothing. Human comfort can extend beyond this range depending on ...

(15–41 °C). However, as ambient temperature decreases below 28 °C, the maintenance of body temperature in individuals is less stable and has been observed in some to decrease below 25 °C. In these low temperatures, bats respond by elevating their

basal metabolic rate Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the rate of food energy, energy expenditure per unit time by endotherm, endothermic animals at rest. It is reported in energy units per unit time ranging from watt (joule/second) to ml O2/min or joule per hour per kg b ...

.Rodriguez-Duran, A. 1991. Comparative environmental physiology of bats roosting in hot caves. Ph.D. dissert., Boston University, 125 pp.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antillean Ghost-Faced Bat Mormoops Mammals of Puerto Rico Mammals of the Dominican Republic Mammals of Haiti Mammals described in 1821 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot