Leach's single leaf bat
| Leach's single leaf bat | |
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| Species: | M. redmani
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| Monophyllus redmani Leach, 1821
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Leach's single leaf bat[1] or Greater Antillean long-tongued bat[2] (Monophyllus redmani) is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is found in southern Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and Puerto Rico. It forms large colonies, with up to a few hundred thousand individuals.[1] Average adult weight is 8.8 g (0.31 oz).[2]
Description
The leach's single leaf bat is a mammal of the order Chiroptera and the family Phyllostomidae. M. redmani can be found around the Greater Antilles and the southern Bahamas.[3] When compared to other glossophagines, M. redmani is small to medium sized.[4] The color of its fur is light brown or gray.[4] The bat has a nose leaf, elongated muzzle, and a papillated tongue for pollen extraction.[3] Fossil records indicate that the M. Redmani has been dated back to cave deposits during the Pleistocene and Holcene epochs.[4]
Two types of facial glands have been found in the leach's single leaf bat, a sebaceous and salivary gland. M. redmani has a vast amount of sebaceous glands and its salivary glands purely serous secreting.[3] Its papillated tongue is what the bat uses to gather the pollen from flowers. Its tongue elongates when it lengthens is rostral part of its skull. It can also elongate its individual papillae on its tongue to create a "mop" that can lap up the pollen within the flower.[5]
Diet
The leach's single leaf bat diet consists of nectar and fruit and insects. 91% of the bats feed on nectar, including the flowers of guava, woman's tongue, myrtle, and wild tamarind.[5] Only 22% feed on fruit, which include panama berry and elder. Insects also make up a portion of the bat's diet. Specifically the Leach's single leaf bat feeds upon a more diverse and soft-bodied type of insects that include lepidopterans and dipterans. [6]
M. redmani's diverse diet may play role in its adaptability to random events like hurricanes, because it can recover more quickly than other populations. [6] Pollen is commonly an insufficient form of protein. Other species of bats obtain their protein primarily from insects. M. redmani are able to feed on flowers that have pollen with a higher content of protein, effectively replacing insects as a protein source.[5]
Feeding strategies
Protein is an important nutrient that is essential for growth and reproduction. It is a critical part of a bats nutrition when it is pregnant or lactating.a[7][5] Finding and acquiring a food source, that can provide them with nutritional protein, on a regular basis is essential for survival. Compared to other bats in the greater Antilles, M. redmani has a jaw morphology that is greatly suited for feeding on nectar rather than fruit.[7]
M. redmani obtains its nitrogen mostly from pollen and insects. Fruit is mostly excluded from its diet because its jaw morphology is more suited flower feeding.[7] Its tongue is primarily used for pollen consumption. The leach's single leaf bat also uses its set of molars for chewing up insects.[5][7]
References
- ^ a b c Template:IUCN2014.3
- ^ a b "Monophyllus redmani — Greater Antillean Long-tongued Bat". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
- ^ a b c Werner, Henry James; Rutherford, Kim (1979-01-01). "Histological Aspects of the Facial Glands of the Bat, Monophyllus redmani portoricensis". Journal of Mammalogy. 60 (1): 229–229. doi:10.2307/1379784.
- ^ a b c Homan, Jacqueline A.; Jones, J. Knox (1975-01-01). "Monophyllus redmani". Mammalian Species (57): 1–3. doi:10.2307/3503997.
- ^ a b c d e Koopman, Karl F. (1981-01-01). "The Distributional Patterns of New World Nectar-Feeding Bats". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 68 (2): 352–369. doi:10.2307/2398802.
- ^ a b Soto-Centeno, J. Angel; Kurta, Allen (2006-01-01). "Diet of Two Nectarivorous Bats, Erophylla sezekorni and Monophyllus redmani (Phyllostomidae), on Puerto Rico". Journal of Mammalogy. 87 (1): 19–26.
- ^ a b c d Mancina, Carlos A.; Herrera M., L. Gerardo (2010-01-01). "Disparate feeding strategies used by syntopic Antillean nectarivorous bats to obtain dietary protein". Journal of Mammalogy. 91 (4): 960–966.
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