Spix’s disk-winged bat (''Thyroptera tricolor''), is a species of bat in the family
Thyropteridae.
[ It is native to the Americas from ]Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
to 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 ...
.[ The most prominent anatomical feature of this bat, which distinguishes it from other species, is the disks on its thumbs and hind feet. These circular disks act as suction cups, allowing the bats to cling onto and move along smooth surfaces.][
]
Distribution and habitat
Spix's disk-winged bat is distributed in the nations of 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 ...
, Tobago
Tobago () is an island and ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trinidad and about off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. It also lies to the southeast of Grenada. The offic ...
, Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
, 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 nor ...
, Peru
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, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
, Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
, Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
, 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 ...
, Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...
, Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
, French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label= French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas ...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
, 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: ' ...
, 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 ...
, 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 ...
, Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wa ...
, and Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
.[ It has a patchy distribution but a very wide range, and it is considered to be a ]least-concern species
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 International Union for Conservation of Nature
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 ...
(IUCN).[
]Species abundance
In ecology, local abundance is the relative representation of a species in a particular ecosystem. It is usually measured as the number of individuals found per sample. The ratio of abundance of one species to one or multiple other species livin ...
of the bat may be limited by the availability of roosting sites. Whereas other species of bats are capable of aggregating in large numbers, hanging head-down by their toes from cave ceilings and hollow trees, ''T. tricolor'' is adapted to roosting in furled leaves, and its populations may be limited by the abundance of plants with this feature.[
]
Description
Spix’s disk-winged bat has a white or pale yellow underbelly and a reddish-brown to black dorsal surface.[ In a survey of this species individuals had an average forearm length of and for females and males, respectively. The adult weighs about .][
Unlike most bats, ''T. tricolor'' clings head-up from its roost. This phenomenon is observed in six bat species in two genera, ''Thyroptera'' and '' Myzopoda''. The former are known as disk-winged, and the latter as sucker-footed. The two groups represent an occurrence of the ]parallel evolution
Parallel evolution is the similar development of a trait in distinct species that are not closely related, but share a similar original trait in response to similar evolutionary pressure.Zhang, J. and Kumar, S. 1997Detection of convergent and paral ...
of a feature, but the two forms of adhesive anatomy are utilized differently.[
The disk-winged bat seeks a bud of rolled-up leaves with the opening at the top. It clings head-up to the smooth inner (ventral) surfaces of the leaves. Plants with this leaf morphology include '']Heliconia
''Heliconia'', derived from the Ancient Greek language, Greek word (), is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the ca 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to c ...
'' and ''Calathea
''Calathea'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Marantaceae. They are commonly called calatheas or (like their relatives) prayer plants. About 200 species formerly assigned to ''Calathea'' are now in the genus '' Goeppertia''. ...
'' species.[ This manner of roosting is said to facilitate rapid escape in the event of a potential disturbance.][ The bat’s disks take the shape of concave cups, and are supported by an internal cartilaginous plate. The ]flexor pollicis brevis muscle
The flexor pollicis brevis is a muscle in the hand that flexes the thumb. It is one of three thenar muscles. It has both a superficial part and a deep part.
Origin and insertion
The muscle's superficial head arises from the distal edge of the f ...
attaches to the plate, such that contraction of the muscle alters overall disk shape,[ creating suction. In order to maintain the integrity of the disk the bat grooms it frequently by licking it. The disk also contains abundant sweat glands, maintaining a moist surface.][
The ]Madagascar sucker-footed bat
The Madagascar sucker-footed bat, Old World sucker-footed bat, or simply sucker-footed bat (''Myzopoda aurita'') is a species of bat in the family Myzopodidae endemic to Madagascar, especially in the eastern part of the forests. The genus was t ...
(''Myzopoda aurita'') has similar sucker anatomy, but produces suction differently. It uses its flexor muscle to change the shape of the disk when detaching from a surface. It also uses sweat lubrication to produce wet adhesion as the main mechanism, rather than suction. It can only attach head-up, while the disk-winged bat can cling at any angle. ''M. aurita'' can concurrently make contact with both its adhesive organ and thumb claw, whereas ''T. tricolor'' cannot. This may be due to the difference in the anatomy of the muscle insertions and the actions they bring about.[
]
Behavior
The species roosts communally. The mean colony size is six individuals and colonies have a sex ratio of 1:1.[ The disks do not prevent agile flight, and bats may circle furled leaves they seek to enter. They fly just a few meters above the forest floor.][ The species 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 ...
, with adults consuming up to of insects per night.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1829302
Thyropteridae
Mammals of Colombia
Bats of Central America
Mammals described in 1823