Natalus

Natalus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Chiroptera
Family:	Natalidae
Genus:	Natalus Gray, 1838[1]
Species
See Text

The genus Natalus of funnel-eared bats is found from Mexico to Brazil and the Caribbean islands. They are slender bats with unusually long tails and, as their name suggests, funnel-shaped ears. They are small, at only 3.5 to 5.5 cm in length, with brown, grey, or reddish fur. Like many other bats, they are insectivorous, and roost in caves.

Eight species belong to this genus:

• Brazilian Funnel-eared Bat, Natalus espiritosantensis
• Jamaican Greater Funnel-eared Bat, Natalus jamaicensis
• Natalus lanatus
• Hispaniolan Greater Funnel-eared Bat, Natalus major
• Mexican Greater Funnel-eared Bat, Natalus mexicanus
• Cuban Greater Funnel-eared Bat, Natalus primus
• Mexican Funnel-eared Bat, Natalus stramineus
• Trinidadian Funnel-eared Bat, Natalus tumidirostris

References

1. ^ 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=13801542, retrieved 12 September 2009