- Bulldog bat
-
Bulldog or Fisherman bats
Temporal range: Pleistocene to Recent
Noctilio leporinus Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Chiroptera Suborder: Microchiroptera Superfamily: Noctilionoidea Family: Noctilionidae
Gray, 1821Genus: Noctilio
Linnaeus, 1766Species The Noctilionidae family of bats, commonly known as bulldog bats or fisherman bats, are represented by two species, the Greater Bulldog Bat and the Lesser Bulldog Bat.[1] They are found near water, from Mexico to Argentina. The Naked Bulldog Bat (Cheiromeles torquatus) does not belong to this family, but to the family Molossidae, the free-tailed bats.
The bulldog bats have orange to brown fur, and range in head-body length from 7 to 14 cm. They have relatively long legs and large feet, exceptionally so in the case of the Greater Bulldog Bat. Unusually among bats, they have cheek-pouches for storing food, which give them their bulldog-like appearance. Both species are insectivorous, although the Greater Bulldog Bat also eats small fish, using its echolocation to pinpoint the ripples they make on the surface of the water.[2]
The greater bulldog bat trawls the water with it long curved talons approximately 2–3 cm below the surface. It makes sweeps of between 30 cm and 3m before ascending and turning to make a return sweep. In a single night the bat may catch 20-30 small fish in this way.[3]
References
- ^ Simmons, Nancy B. (2005). "Chiroptera". In Wilson, Don E.; Reeder, DeeAnn M.. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 312–529. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. http://www.bucknell.edu/MSW3/browse.asp?s=y&id=13801508. Retrieved 4 October 2009
- ^ Macdonald, D., ed (1984). The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File. pp. 805. ISBN 0-87196-871-1.
- ^ Piper, Ross (2007), Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals, Greenwood Press.
External links
Media related to Noctilio at Wikimedia Commons 
Data related to Noctilio at WikispeciesChiroptera families Kingdom: Animalia · Phylum: Chordata · Class: Mammalia · Infraclass: Eutheria · Superorder: LaurasiatheriaYinpterochiroptera
(Pteropodiformes)Yangochiroptera
(Vespertilioniformes)Emballonuridae (Sac-winged bats) · Furipteridae (Smoky bats) · Miniopteridae (Long-winged bats) · Molossidae (Free-tailed bats) · Mormoopidae (Ghost-faced bats) · Mystacinidae (New Zealand short-tailed bats) · Myzopodidae (Sucker-footed bats) · Natalidae (Funnel-eared bats) · Noctilionidae (Bulldog bats) · Nycteridae (Hollow-faced bats) · Phyllostomidae (Leaf-nosed bats) · Thyropteridae (Disk-winged bats) · Vespertilionidae (Vesper bats)Categories:- Noctilionidae
- Bat stubs
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