Marinkelle's sword-nosed bat (''Lonchorhina marinkellei'') is a

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). 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 birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

species found in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. In 2013,

Bat Conservation International Bat Conservation International (BCI) is an international nongovernmental organization working to conserve bats and their habitats through conservation, education, and research efforts. BCI was founded in 1982 by bat biologist Merlin Tuttle, wh ...

listed this species as one of the 35 species of its worldwide priority list of conservation. Its species name ''marinkellei'' was chosen to honor the Dutch scientist Cornelis Johannes Marinkelle, who worked in Colombia.Beolens, B., Watkins, M., & Grayson, M. (2009). The eponym dictionary of mammals. JHU Press.

Description

It is the largest of the sword-nosed bats. Their forearms are greater than . Their skulls are long. They weigh . Their hair is long, at .Lassieur, S., & Wilson, D. E. (1989). Lonchorhina aurita. Mammalian species, 347, 1-4. Their

propatagium The patagium (: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flying. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, theropod dinosaurs (including bi ...

is hairless, and their

plagiopatagium The patagium (: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flying. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, theropod dinosaurs (including bi ...

is mostly hairless, with the exception of a few short hairs. They are dark brown in color. Their

nose-leaf A nose-leaf, or leaf nose, is an often large, lance-shaped nose, found in bats of the Phyllostomidae, Hipposideridae, and Rhinolophidae families. Because these bats Animal echolocation, echolocate nasally, this nose-leaf is thought to serve a role ...

s are tall and wide. Their ears are long, and their traguses are long.Hernández-Camacho, J. and Cadena-G., A. 1978. Notas para la revision del género Lonchorhina (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae). Caldasia 12: 200-251.

Biology and ecology

They are

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

, based on stomach content analysis. Little is known about their reproductive patterns, but a pregnant female was once found in August.

Distribution

While records of this species exist in

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

, these are likely mistaken. This species has been confirmed in two sites in

.Gardner, A. L. (Ed.). (2008). Mammals of South America, volume 1: marsupials, xenarthrans, shrews, and bats. University of Chicago Press. The first-described individual was captured in a small cave in a humid forest. Subsequent individuals have been captured while foraging in open

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

habitat. Like the Fernandez's sword-nosed bat, it is also found in the

Llanos The Llanos ( Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, ...

. They are found in association with granite "

tepui A tepui , or tepuy (), is a member of a family of table-top mountains or mesas found in northern South America, especially in Venezuela, western Guyana, and northern Brazil. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the ...

" formations in eastern Colombia. They have been found roosting in small caves with

Orinoco sword-nosed bat The Orinoco sword-nosed bat (''Lonchorhina orinocensis'') is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern co ...

Seba's short-tailed bat Seba's short-tailed bat (''Carollia perspicillata'') is a common and widespread bat species in the family Phyllostomidae. They are found in Central America, the northern parts of South America, and in the Antilles islands. Description ''C. per ...

Yellow-throated big-eared bat The yellow-throated big-eared bat or orange-throated bat(''Lampronycteris brachyotis'') is a species of bat that ranges from southern Mexico to Brazil. It is the only species within the genus ''Lampronycteris''. A frugivore and insectivore, it i ...

s, and

Lesser dog-like bat The lesser dog-like bat (''Peropteryx macrotis''), also known as Peters' sac-winged bat, is a species of bat from South and Central America. First described in 1826, it was renamed in 1843 because the original scientific name was already in use f ...

s, although they prefer the darkest parts of the cave.

Conservation

It has only been encountered twice, in surveys that were twenty years apart. This species is currently listed as vulnerable by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

because it is confirmed to occur in only two areas. The areas are apart, and both locations are being degraded by human activities. In 2008, it was listed as

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

, but its status was reevaluated after the criteria to be considered "endangered" were updated. This species is threatened by

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

, and is at-risk of becoming

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

in the future. Some of the bats' habitat may be protected by nearby national parks, including Chiribiquete National Park. These parks may prove instrumental in preserving the granite

that the bats use as roosts.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1830121 Lonchorhina Mammals of Colombia Endemic fauna of Colombia Mammals described in 1978 Endangered animals Endangered biota of South America Bats of South America