The Jamaican flower bat (''Phyllonycteris aphylla'') is a critically endangered 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 Phyllostomidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

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 ...

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described by American zoologist Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. in 1898. He initially placed it in the genus ''Reithronycteris'', which is now

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

with ''

Phyllonycteris ''Phyllonycteris'' is a genus of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It contains the following species: * Jamaican Flower Bat (''Phyllonycteris aphylla'') * † Puerto Rican Flower Bat (''Phyllonycteris major'') * Cuban Flower Bat (''Phyllonycteri ...

''. The specimen that he described was collected in Jamaica; the date of collection and the exact location are unknown. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

used to describe the species has since been lost. Its

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''aphylla'' was derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

word áphullos, meaning "leafless." This is likely in reference to its small

nose-leaf A nose-leaf, or leaf nose, is an often large, lance-shaped nose, found in bats of the Phyllostomidae, Hipposideridae The Hipposideridae are a family of bats commonly known as the Old World leaf-nosed bats. While it has often been seen as a su ...

Description

It weighs . Its total body length is . Its forearm is long. On the dorsal side of the forearm, its skin is pink. Its ears are long and wide. The tragus is . It has a disc-shaped, basic

at the end of its

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, rostrum, or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the nose of many mammals is c ...

. The fur is short, with individual hairs approximately long on its back and long on its belly. Its feet are very large in relation to its body, at , and the

uropatagium The patagium (plural: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flight. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, birds, some dromaeosau ...

lacks a

calcar The calcar, also known as the calcaneum, is the name given to a spur of cartilage arising from inner side of ankle and running along part of outer interfemoral membrane in bats, as well as to a similar spur on the legs of some arthropods. The cal ...

. Like other members of the

Glossophaginae Glossophaginae is a subfamily of leaf-nosed bats. List of species Subfamily: Glossophaginae * Tribe Glossophagini **Genus: '' Anoura'' - Geoffroy's long-nosed bats ***'' Anoura aequatoris'' *** Cadena's tailless bat, ''Anoura cadenai'' *** Ta ...

subfamily, it has a long tongue tipped with

lingual papillae Lingual papillae (singular papilla) are small structures on the upper surface of the tongue that give it its characteristic rough texture. The four types of papillae on the human tongue have different structures and are accordingly classified as c ...

. Its skull is larger and more robust than most other Glossophagines, though. Fur is silky in texture. Dorsal fur is blond or light gold, while ventral fur is almost white. Its flight membranes are dark brown or almost black in color.

Biology

It is a

social species Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies. Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother wasp ...

, living in

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

with other members of its species and other species of bat. Its colonies can number several hundred individuals. It depends on caves for roosting habitat, and cannot exist without them. Little is known about its reproduction, though Goodwin 1970 reported finding a pregnant female in January, per McFarlane 1986. It eats fruit, pollen, nectar, and possibly insects. In 1965, a female individual was held in captivity for one month before dying, living on a diet of banana, papaya, mango, and canned fruit nectar.

Range and habitat

It is only found on

. It is currently only known to roost in two caves: Marta Tick Cave and Stony Hill Cave. Previously, a "sizeable colony"–the only one known for this species–roosted in St. Clair Cave, although the Jamaican flower bat is no longer found there. Per McFarlane 1986, Goodwin 1970 stated that the bat could be found in three caves: St. Clair Cave, Riverhead Cave, and Mt. Plenty Cave. Goodwin also stated that fossilized remains of the species had been found in Wallingford and Runaway Bay Caves.

Conservation

As of 2015, it is currently evaluated as critically endangered by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

. It meets the criteria for this evaluation because it is only known from two caves, the population size is estimated at fewer than 250 individuals, each subpopulation consists of fewer than 50 individuals, and its population size is likely in decline. The Jamaican flower bat used to occur in five or six caves, but now only occurs in two. Part of its decline in St. Clair Cave may be attributed to the population of

feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

s living in the cave and preying on bats. Its estimated area of occupancy is . From 2008 to 2015, the IUCN had listed this species as

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

, which is the lowest risk level of extinction. This species is threatened by human disturbance to caves.

References

External links

Image of this species
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1831141 Phyllonycteris Bats of the Caribbean Endemic fauna of Jamaica Mammals of Jamaica Bat, Jamaican flower Mammals described in 1898 Taxa named by Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. Taxonomy articles created by Polbot