Phyllostomidae
Author
Don E. Wilson
Author
Russell A. Mittermeier
text
2019
2019-10-31
Lynx Edicions
Barcelona
Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats
444
583
book chapter
http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6458594
adeeb71f-7f8d-4e00-bc9f-35089363f76e
978-84-16728-19-0
6458594
3.
Orange-throated Bat
Lampronycteris brachyotis
French:
Lampronyctére a oreilles courtes
/
German:
Gelbbauch-Blattnase
/
Spanish:
Lampronicterio
de garganta naranja
Other common names:
Yellow-throated Bat
,
Yellow-throated Big-eared Bat
Taxonomy.
Schizostoma brachyote Dobson, 1879
,
“Cayenne,”
French Guiana
.
This species is monotypic.
On following pages: 4. Tiny Big-eared Bat (
Micronycteris minuta
); 5. Sanborn’s Big-eared Bat (
Micronycteris
sanborni); 6. Schmidts' Big-eared Bat (
Micronycteris schmidtorum
); 7. Yates's Big-eared Bat (
Micronycteris yatesi
); 8. Hairy
Big-eared Bat (
Micronycteris hirsuta
); 9. Brosset's Big-eared Bat (
Micronycteris brosseti
; 10. Giovanni's Big-eared Bat (
Micronycteris giovanniae
); 11.
Matses
Big-eared Bat (
Micronycteris matses
); 12. Little Big-eared Bat (
Micronycteris megalotis
); 13. Common Big-eared Bat (
Micronycteris microtis
); 14.
Saint Vincent
Big-eared Bat (
Micronycteris
buriri); 15. Common Vampire Bat (
Desmodus rotundus
); 16. White-winged Vampire Bat (
Diaemus
youngii); 17. Hairy-legged Vampire Bat (
Diphylla ecaudata
); 18. Common Sword-nosed Bat (
Lonchorhina aurita
); 19. Fernandez's Sword-nosed Bat (
Lonchorhina fernandez
); 20. Uncommon Sword-nosed Bat (
Lonchorhina
inusitata
); 21. Orinoco Sword-nosed Bat (
Lonchorhina orinocensis
); 22. Chiribiquete Sword-nosed Bat (
Lonchorhina
mankomara
); 23. Marinkelle’s Sword-nosed Bat (
Lonchorhina
marinkelle)).
Distribution.
From S
Mexico
(S
Veracruz
,
Oaxaca
, and
Yucatan
Peninsula) S through Central America to South America, including
Colombia
,
Venezuela
, the Guianas, E
Ecuador
, E
Peru
,
Bolivia
, and
Brazil
to
Sao Paulo State
; also on
Trinidad
I.
Descriptive notes.
Head-body 50-61 mm, tail 7-14 mm, ear 12-19 mm, hindfoot 10-18 mm, forearm 39-43 mm; weight 9-15 g. The Orange-throated Bat is medium-sized. Venter and throat are usually orange to yellow but can be as dark as cinnamon fuscous. Sometimesyellow-orange extends to bases of cars and head. Rest of pelageis olive-brown to dark brown or sepia. Immature individuals are olive-brown on back and sides. Strip of long, stiff hairs occurs around throat, and in some individuals, it forms ruff of darker color extending to back whereit blends into thicker and plusher hair on top of head. Eyes are black. Tail is relatively short and completely embedded in uropatagium, which is broad and hairy closer to body and naked distally. Noseleaf is pointed and relatively short compared with other phyllostomids. Lower lobe of noseleaf is easily distinguished from upperlip, and when viewed from the side,itis raised above contour of upperlip. Lowerlip has two squarish padsthat form V-shaped groove in chin. Ears are medium-sized for the family; they appear rounded, but upon close examination, they end in tip that is usually bent forward and outward, giving the impression of a rounded ear. Inner edge of ear,just above eye, has semicircular projection forward thatis very evident and helpful as a diagnostic characteristic. Tragusis long and pointed. Feet are long and slender, about the same length as calcar. Rostrum is slightly elongated. Dental formulais 12/2, C1/1,P 2/3, M 3/3 (
x2
) = 34. There are two pairs of upper incisors. I' are chiselshaped, and I? are bifid, with elongated medial cusp in contact with
I2.
Chromosomal complement has 2n = 32 and FN = 60. X-chromosomeis submetacentric.
Habitat.
Various habitats from tropical lowland rainforests to tropical subhumid forests, tropical semideciduous forests, cerrado formations, and Atlantic Forest of southeastern
Brazil
at elevations below
525 m
. Orange-throated Bats seem to be sensitive to human disturbance in their roosts and foraging habitats; they are among the first bat species to disappear after habitat fragmentation, disturbance, or destruction.
Food and Feeding.
In southern
Mexico
, insects and spiders dominate diets of the Orange-throated Bats, but some fruit is also eaten. The Orange-throated Bat frequently is included in the guild of foliage-gleaning bats. Nevertheless, some researchers noted that it has longer, narrower wings and smaller ears than other typical gleaning bats of the same size and concluded that it conducts longerflights and has wider home ranges than other gleaning phyllostomids. Foraging areas represent 70-80% of home ranges. Available evidence suggests that the Orange-throated Bat is more markedly an aerial insectivore that hunts in open spaces,likely around upper canopies, and also uses open space above canopiesto take long foraging flights.
Breeding.
In southern
Mexico
, Orange-throated Bats seem to be monoestrous, giving birth during rainy season. Females carry a single embryo. Slightly different pattern of lactating females and young and subadults in March and July-August has been observed in
Panama
. Little is known of reproductive habits in South America. Orangethroated Bats form harems of one male and several females.
Activity patterns.
Orange-throated Bats are fully nocturnal, leaving day roosts an average of 45 minutes after sunset and returning one hour before sunrise. Most individuals in a radio-tracked colony in Barro Colorado Island,
Panama
, remained evenly active throughout the period that they remained outside the roost, but two males remained close to the roost throughout the night. One individual spent 82% of the night (and all daylight hours) inside the roost. Orange-throated Bats fly 1-70 minutes at a time, but most flights last 1-20 minutes. Average foraging flight lasted more than nine minutes, and foraging flights were alternated with behavior consistent with perch-hunting, with shortsallies or search flights. The Orange-throated Bats seem to combine aerial foraging with gleaning prey from vegetation.
Movements, Home range and Social organization.
Orange-throated Bats on Barro
Colorado
Island have rather large home ranges given their relatively small size. Average home range of males and females was c.30 ha, although one male used two foraging areas and thus had a home range of 60 ha. Within home ranges, foraging areas were smaller: 27 ha for males and 22 ha for females. Core areas were 4 ha for males and 5 ha for females. Home rangesoffive of nine radio-tracked individuals overlapped spatially, although sequential tracking of individuals did not allow for conclusions of simultaneous spatiotemporal habitat use; core areas of two individuals overlapped. Mean nightly distance flown was
15 km
(7-25 km), but by extrapolating conservatively with flight speed of 9-9 m/s from M. Weinbeer and E. K. V. Kalko in 2004, the average total distance flown per night was probably closer to
60 km
. Only two of the nine radio-tracked individuals foraged near the roost; the other seven moved away from the roost to forage. Orange-throated Bats form colonies of up to a few hundred individuals in hollow trees, caves, mines, culverts, and dark roomsat archaeologicalsites. They can coexist with a wide variety of other bat species in the same roost, including Fringe-lipped Bats (
Trachops cirrhosus
), short-tailed bats (
Carollia
spp.), Cozumelan Golden Bats (
Mimon cozumelae
), and Pallas’s Long-tongued Bats (
Glossophaga soricina
).
Status and Conservation.
Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Nevertheless, given apparent intolerance to human disturbance oftheir habitat, population trends of the Orange-throated Bat seem to be declining. In
Mexico
, local federal legislation lists it as threatened because ofits dependence on undisturbed tropical rainforest.
Bibliography.
Bolivar-Cimé et al. (2013), Brandao et al. (2016), Goodwin & Greenhall (1961), Medellin, Navarro et al. (1983), Medellin, Wilson & Navarro (1985), Sanborn (1949a), Simmons & Voss (1998), Teeling et al. (2012), Weinbeer & Kalko (2004).