Physiology ĭuring flight, the heart rate of U. At times they may supplement their diet with insects, flower parts, nectar, or pollen. They will also feed on the pericarp of small palm fruits and occasionally common guavas. They are primarily frugivores and have been observed carrying small, unripe figs in their mouths. Uroderma bilobatum lives in low-elevation evergreen and deciduous forests, second-growth forests, and fruit groves.
Most specimens have been collected at elevations below 600 m, but some have been found as high as 1500 m above sea level. They also live on the island of Trinidad. These bats are found in Central America from Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico to Peru, Bolivia, and southeastern Brazil. They also possess a calcar and a slightly pigmented, permanently open dactylopatagium minus. Their dental formula is i 2/2, c 1/1, p 2/2, m 3/3, which gives them a total of 32 teeth. A dorsal view of their skull reveals a depression between the frontal bone and their snout. They have a U-shaped tail membrane that is practically hairless and measures 14–16 mm in length.
Their brown noseleaf and ears are rimmed with yellow or white. This facemask may serve a camouflage purpose by making their eyes less obvious to would-be predators. One pair goes over the head, between and to the back of the ears. The face has two striking symmetrical pairs of white stripes. A thin, white stripe runs down the middle of the back from behind the head to the rump. The individual hairs of their coat are bicolor, being lighter in color at the base than at the top. Their pelage ranges in color from dark gray to grayish brown, with their belly slightly lighter in color than their back. Typically, the females are slightly larger than the males. Uroderma bilobatum is medium in size, weighing between 13–20 g with a body length of 59–69 mm. The species name bilobatum is said to be derived from the Greek and Latin roots bi for “two” and lobat for “lobed” in reference to their first upper incisors, which have two lobes. The proper word for “tail” in ancient Greek is however oura (οὐρά). This describes their tail membrane, which is made entirely of skin, lacking tail vertebrae. The genus name Uroderma is said to be derived from the Greek words uro for “tail” and derma for “skin”, thus meaning “tail of skin”. Uroderma bilobatum includes six subspecies: This genus includes two species: Uroderma bilobatum Peters, 1866 and Uroderma magnirostrum Davis, 1968. Their tail membrane is curved into the shape of a U and lacks hair along its edge. īats in the genus Uroderma are characterized by a pale, white stripe that runs down the back and two pairs of white stripes on the face. Thus, they are important seed dispersers for certain plants. They are known to pick fruit with their mouths and carry it to a night roost to consume it. The shape of their faces has been correlated to their frugivorous diet. The upward projection of their noseleaf has two creases and the lower part is at least partly free. These 17 genera from Central America have broad shoulders and faces and narrow tail membranes, with a tail that is either greatly reduced or absent. Within Phyllostomidae is the subfamily Stenodermatinae, members of which are sometimes called tailless bats.
Thus they are sometimes called “whispering bats”. Because they emit calls at such low frequencies, standard bat detectors have trouble picking up their calls. These bats send their echolocation calls out their nostrils, and so the noseleaf may help direct the sounds that they emit. Commonly known as the American leaf-nosed bats, phyllostomids are characterized by a special structure consisting of a leaf-shaped projection extending up from a “horseshoe-shaped” base attached to their upper lip. Carnivores, frugivores, and bats that specialize on blood or nectar and pollen are all represented in this family. The bat Uroderma bilobatum is a member of the family Phyllostomidae, which contains 49 genera and a greater variety in feeding habits than any other bat family. 9 Relationship to humans and conservation status.