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Wagner's mustached bat (''Pteronotus personatus'') is a bat species from South and Central America. It is one of the few New World bats species known to perform
Doppler shift compensation When an echolocating bat approaches a target, its outgoing sounds return as echoes, which are Doppler shifted upward in frequency. In certain species of bats, which produce constant frequency (CF) echolocation calls, the bats compensate for the Do ...
behavior.


Description

Wagner's mustached bat is a relatively small bat, with a head-body length of and a tail long. There are two color phases, with some individuals having blackish-brown fur over the back and head with drab grey underparts, and others being clay-brown to reddish yellow with buff or cinnamon underparts. Individuals of both color phases can be found together in the same cave. The ears are long and pointed, with sharp serrations along the medial edges and a spatulate tragus including a shelf-like fold. The upper lip has a number of heavy bristles and surrounds the nose, with numerous folds and small projections along its edge. The snout is raised upwards, while the remainder of the skull is relatively flattened. The incisor teeth are reduced in size, but have a complex shape with two or three lobes. The wing membranes reach the ankles of the bat, which are also attached to a large uropatagium, with the short tail emerging near the middle of the upper surface. The wings are long and narrow, normally a feature that enables rapid flight. Because of the small size of Wagner's mustached bat, however, it does not fly as quickly as other related species with a similar wing shape; flight speeds between have been recorded. Females come into estrus once a year, and give birth to a single young near the beginning of the rainy season in June or July.


Distribution and habitat

Wagner's mustached bat is found in tropical Mexico are far north as
Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...
and Tamaulipas, and through the central and western parts of Central America. In South America, it is found along the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico as far east as
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 in a band running from the Pacific coast of
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 ...
though eastern Ecuador, central Peru, northern
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and across central Brazil from
Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP. Neighboring ...
to the Atlantic coast. The bat inhabits forested environments, ranging from tropical
rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
to dry deciduous forest, at elevations of up to . They commonly hunt for insects along rivers, streams, or
arroyos Arroyo often refers to: * Arroyo (creek), an intermittently dry creek Arroyo may also refer to: People * Arroyo (surname) Places United States ;California * Arroyo Burro Beach, a public beach park in Santa Barbara County, California * Arroyo ...
, often travelling along local
canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
s. There are two recognised subspecies: * ''Pteronotus personatus personatus'' – South America, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, eastern Honduras * ''Pteronotus personatus psilotis'' – western Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico Fossils of Wagner's mustached bat have been found on Tobago, indicating that it may once have had a wider range than it has today. The fossils date from the late Pleistocene.


Classification

The two subspecies were formerly considered to be separate species, and it has recently been argued that they should once again be raised to species status. ''P. p. psilotis'' is distinguished by being smaller and paler than ''P. p. personatus''. Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that Wagner's mustached bat does not have a common ancestor with the other members of its supposed subgenus, ''
Chilonycteris ''Pteronotus'' is a genus 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 ...
'', and should instead be assigned its own subgenus; as yet, no formal change to the classification has been made.


Behavior

Wagner's Mustached Bat roosts in hot, humid, caves during the day, with colonies that commonly range from 100 to 10,000 individuals, although a few larger colonies are known. They prefer caves that maintain a steady temperature of between , and begins to suffer from hypothermia at ambient temperatures below . The roosts are commonly shared with numerous other species of bat, and the Wagner's mustached bats may account for only a small minority of the bats in any given cave. The bat echolocates using a rapid series of constant frequency pulses followed by longer frequency modulated sweeps, although contradictory estimates of ultrasonic frequency and range have been reported in different studies. It was one of only a few bat species to use Doppler-shift compensatory behavior. As the bat flies through the air, the frequency of returning echoes changes due to Doppler shifting; Wagner's mustached bat is capable of changing the frequency of its emitted ultrasonic pulses to compensate for this effect. This helps it navigate easily while flying at relatively high speed through dense forest foliage.


References


External links


''Pteronotus personatus'' in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
{{Taxonbar, from=Q661153 Pteronotus Bats of Central America Bats of South America Bats of Brazil Mammals of Colombia Mammals described in 1843 Taxa named by Johann Andreas Wagner