The lesser ghost bat (''Diclidurus scutatus'') is a

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 ...

species found in South America. It is one of six bat species worldwide to have white fur.

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described by

Wilhelm Peters Wilhelm Karl Hartwich (or Hartwig) Peters (22 April 1815 in Koldenbüttel – 20 April 1883) was a German natural history, naturalist and explorer. He was assistant to the anatomist Johannes Peter Müller and later became curator of the Natural ...

in 1869 based on a specimen sent to the

Paris Museum of Natural History The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loca ...

by Arsène Onessim Barraquin. Barraquin had collected the specimen in Paraguay in 1859. Peters placed it in the genus ''

Diclidurus ''Diclidurus'' is a genus of bats whose common name is the ghost bats (not to be confused with the Australia ''Macroderma gigas''). ''Diclidurus'' all inhabit tropical South America, and ''D. albus'' is also found in Mexico and Central America.Em ...

''. Its specific name, '' scutatus'', is of Latin origin, meaning "shield-shaped". Its lineage diverged from other members of its genus around 5 million years ago at the end of the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

Description

It has long, soft fur that is white or pale brown in color.* It is one of only six bat species worldwide that have white fur; others are the other three species of ''

'', the

Honduran white bat The Honduran white bat (''Ectophylla alba''), also called the Caribbean white tent-making bat, is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomatidae. It is the only member of the genus ''Ectophylla''. The genus and the species were both scientifi ...

(''Ectophylla alba''), and the

ghost bat The ghost bat (''Macroderma gigas'') is a species of bat found in northern Australia. The species is the only Australian bat that preys on large vertebrates – birds, reptiles and other mammals – which they detect using acute sight and heari ...

(''Macroderma gigas''). Its claws are black in color. Its forearm is long. Forearm length can be used to distinguish it from the closely related northern ghost bat, ''Diclidurus albus'', which has a forearm length of more than . It weighs . Adult males have two glandular pouches on their uropatagia. These pouches are particularly pronounced during

breeding season Seasonal breeders are animal species that successfully mate only during certain times of the year. These times of year allow for the optimization of survival of young due to factors such as ambient temperature, food and water availability, and cha ...

. The ear is long, and the tragus is long. Its

dental formula Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiolo ...

is , for a total of 32 teeth.

Biology

It is

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were ...

. It flies quickly at tree-top height or over open water as it forages for food. Because it forages so high, it is difficult to capture and study—almost nothing is known about their reproduction. In one study in French Guiana, researchers captured 8,031 bats as they foraged or roosted, but only two were the lesser ghost bat. During the day, it roosts in

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...

leaves. They will forage in cities where insects gather around street lamps and flood lights.

Range and habitat

Its range includes northern and southeastern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. Many observations of it have occurred at elevations less than above sea level. In Venezuela, it has not been encountered above above sea level. They are more likely to be found in

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

Conservation

It is currently evaluated 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 ...

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 ...

. While its population trend is unknown because it is rarely encountered, it is not thought that their numbers are rapidly declining.

Deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

is a possible threat to this species.

References

External links

* Image of holotype (preserved specimen). {{Taxonbar, from=Q302584 Bats of South America Bats of Brazil Mammals of Colombia Diclidurus Mammals described in 1869 Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN