Geoffroy's tailless bat (''Anoura geoffroyi'') is a species of phyllostomid bat from the American tropics.

Description

Geoffroy's tailless bat is a medium-sized bat, measuring around in total length and weighing . It has dark to dull brown fur over much of its body, with greyish-brown underparts and silvery-grey fur on the neck and shoulders. The wings are black or very dark brown, while the membrane between the legs is relatively small and covered in hair. As its name suggests, the bat does not possess a tail. It has a long muzzle, a projecting lower jaw, and short, rounded ears. Its tongue is long and narrow, with a pointed tip covered with fine

papillae Papilla (Latin, 'nipple') or papillae may refer to: In animals * Papilla (fish anatomy), in the mouth of fish * Basilar papilla, a sensory organ of lizards, amphibians and fish * Dental papilla, in a developing tooth * Dermal papillae, part of ...

that help to draw up nectar when it feeds. Males and females do not vary much in size in

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 ...

, but in Trinidad, another area where ''Anoura geoffroyi'' lives, the females are reported to have slightly longer forearms than the males.

Distribution and habitat

Geoffroy's tailless bat is found from northern

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

, through much of

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, across northern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

, and through

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 ...

to parts of

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 ...

and Brazil immediately south of the Amazon Basin. It has also been reported from both Trinidad and

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pet ...

. The bat inhabits wooded environments between elevation, including pine and oak forests, cloud forest, cerrado, and agricultural land. Three subspecies are currently recognised: *''A. g. geoffroyi'' — Bolivia, Brazil, eastern Colombia, Venezuela, The Guianas *''A. g. lasiopyga'' — Mexico, Central America, western Colombia,

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

*''A. g. peruana'' — Peru

Behaviour and diet

The bat is primarily

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 up to 90% of its diet consisting of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

s and

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s, as well as other

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s. However, they also eat some

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...

and lap up

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

and

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

from a wide range of flowers, and has even been reported to subsist entirely on nectar in some parts of its range. They are

nocturnal Nocturnality is an ethology, animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have ...

, resting in caves close to water during the day, either alone, or in colonies of up to 300 individuals, although colony sizes of 20 to 75 are more common. The species is a swift flier, and is able to hover. It uses both vision and echolocation to navigate, with its hearing being most sensitive between 65 and 75 kHz. Since it feeds on similar insects to other local species of bats, it may avoid competition by feeding at discrete altitudes not favoured by those bats.

Lifecycle

Mating in Geoffroy's tailless bats seems to take place primarily between March and August, corresponding with the rainy season and allowing the young to be born when food is most abundant. However, the precise mating season, if any, seems to vary across the bat's range. Gestation takes four months and births have been found to be in different months by geography: July in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...

, June in

, March in Costa Rica, etc.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q83592 Anoura Bats of Central America Bats of South America Bats of Brazil Mammals of Colombia Mammals described in 1838 Taxa named by John Edward Gray