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Microchiroptera

(Suborder)

Overview

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The microbats constitute the suborder Microchiroptera within the order Chiroptera (bats). They are most often referred to by their scientific name. Other English names are "insectivorous bats", "echolocating bats", "small bats" or "true bats". All these names are somewhat inaccurate, because not all microbats feed on insects, and some of them are larger than small megabats.

The distinctions between microbats and megabats are:

Most microbats feed on insects. Some of the larger species hunt birds, lizards, frogs or even fish. Microbats that feed on the blood of large mammals (vampire bats) exist in the Americas south of the United States. Microbats are 4 to 16 cm long. 1] Leaf-Nosed Microbats are also known to be fruit and nectar-eating. Three species Leaf-Nosed Bats follow the bloom of columnar cacti in Northwest Mexico and Southwest United States northward in the spring and then the blooming agaves southward in the fall.[2]

Echolocation

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Main article: Animal echolocation

Microbats generate ultrasound via the larynx and emit the sound through the nose or the open mouth. Microbat About this sound calls (help?info) range in frequency from 14,000 to over 100,000 hertz, well beyond the range of the human ear (typical human hearing range is considered to be from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz). The emitted vocalizations form a broad beam of sound that is used to probe the environment. See the main article on animal echolocation for details.

Some moths have developed a protection against bats. They are able to hear the bat's ultrasounds and flee as soon as they notice these sounds, or stop beating their wings for a period of time to deprive the bat of the characteristic echo signature of moving wings which it may home in on. To counteract this, the bat may cease producing the ultrasound bursts as it nears its prey, and thus avoid detection.

Classification

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This is the classification according to Simmons and Geisler (1998):

Superfamily Emballonuroidea

Superfamily Rhinopomatoidea

Superfamily Rhinolophoidea

Superfamily Vespertilionoidea

Superfamily Molossoidea

Superfamily Nataloidea

Superfamily Noctilionoidea

robats use echolocation, whereas megabats do not typically (The Egyptian fruit bat Rousettus egyptiacus is an exception).
  • Microbats lack the claw at the second toe of the forelimb.
  • The ears of microbats do not close to form a ring: the edges are separated from each other at the base of the ear.
  • Microbats lack underfur; they have only guard hairs, or are naked.

    • Most microbats feed on insects. Some of the larger species hunt birds, lizards, frogs or even fish. Microbats that feed on the blood of large mammals (vampire bats) exist in the Americas south of the United States. Microbats are 4 to 16 cm long. 1] Leaf-Nosed Microbats are also known to be fruit and nectar-eating. Three species Leaf-Nosed Bats follow the bloom of columnar cacti in Northwest Mexico and Southwest United States northward in the spring and then the blooming agaves southward in the fall.[2]

    Echolocation

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    Main article: Animal echolocation

    Microbats generate ultrasound via the larynx and emit the sound through the nose or the open mouth. Microbat About this sound calls (help?info) range in frequency from 14,000 to over 100,000 hertz, well beyond the range of the human ear (typical human hearing range is considered to be from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz). The emitted vocalizations form a broad beam of sound that is used to probe the environment. See the main article on animal echolocation for details.

    Some moths have developed a protection against bats. They are able to hear the bat's ultrasounds and flee as soon as they notice these sounds, or stop beating their wings for a period of time to deprive the bat of the characteristic echo signature of moving wings which it may home in on. To counteract this, the bat may cease producing the ultrasound bursts as it nears its prey, and thus avoid detection.

    Classification

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    This is the classification according to Simmons and Geisler (1998):

    Superfamily Emballonuroidea

    Superfamily Rhinopomatoidea

    Superfamily Rhinolophoidea

    Superfamily Vespertilionoidea

    Superfamily Molossoidea

    Superfamily Nataloidea

    Superfamily Noctilionoidea

    References

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    1. ^ Whitaker, J.O. Jr, Dannelly, H.K. & Prentice, D.A. (2004) Chitinase in insectivorous bats. Journal of. Mammalogy, 85, 15?18.
    2. ^ A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert, Edited by Steven Phillips and Patricia Comus, University of California Press, Berkeley p. 464

    External links

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    Taxonomy

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    The Suborder Microchiroptera is a member of the Order Chiroptera. Here is the complete "parentage" of Microchiroptera:

    The Suborder Microchiroptera is further organized into finer groupings including:

    Families

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    Archaeonycteridae

    Archaeonycteridae (formerly spelled Archaeonycterididae) is a family of extinct bats. It was originally erected by the Swiss naturalist Pierre Revilliod as Archaeonycterididae to hold the genus Archaeonycteris. It was formerly classified under the superfamily Icaronycteroidea (disused) by Kurten and Anderson in 1980. In 2007, the spelling was corrected to Archaeonycteridae and it was reclassified to the unranked clade by Smith et al.. The family Palaeochiropterygidae was also merged into Archaeonycteridae by Kurten and Anderson, but modern authorities specializing in bat fossils maintain the distinction between the two. [more]

    Craseonycteridae

    Kitti's hog-nosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai), also known as the bumblebee bat, is a vulnerable species of bat and the only extant member of the family Craseonycteridae. It occurs in western Thailand and southeast Burma, where it occupies limestone caves along rivers. [more]

    Emballonuridae

    The 51 species of sac-winged or sheath-tailed bats constitute the family Emballonuridae, and can be found in tropical and subtropical regions all over the world. Emballonurids include some of the smallest of all bats, and range from 3.5 to 10 cm in body length. They are generally brown or grey, although the ghost bats (genus Diclidurus) are white. [more]

    Furipteridae

    Furipteridae is one of the families of bats. This family contains only two species, the Smokey Bat and the Thumbless Bat. Both are from Central and South America, and are closely related to the bats in the Natalidae and Thyropteridae families. They can be recognized by their reduced and functionless thumbs, enclosed by the wing membranes, and their broad, funnel-shaped ears. There are only two genera in the group, each with a single species. They are insectivorous and can live in many different kinds of environments. They have greyish fur, and a small . Like many bats, they roost in caves. [more]

    Hassianycterididae

    [more]

    Megadermatidae

    Megadermatidae, or False Vampire Bats, are a family of bats found from central Africa, eastwards through southern Asia, and into Australia. They are relatively large bats, ranging from 6.5 cm to 14 cm in head-body length. They have large eyes, very large ears and a prominent . They have a wide membrane between the hind legs, or uropatagium, but no tail. Many species are a drab brown in color, but some are white, bluish-grey or even olive-green, helping to camouflage them against their preferred roosting environments. They are primarily insectivorous, but will also eat a wide range of small vertebrates. [more]

    Molossidae

    Molossidae, or free-tailed bats, are a family of bats within the order Chiroptera. They are generally quite robust, and consist of many strong flying forms with relatively long and narrow wings. Another common name for some members of this group, and indeed a few species from other families, is mastiff bat. The western mastiff bat, Eumops perotis, a large species from the southwestern United States and Mexico with wings over 0.5 m (1.6 ft) across, is perhaps one of the best known with this name. They are widespread, being found on every continent except Antarctica. [more]

    Mormoopidae

    The family Mormoopidae contains bats known generally as mustached bats, ghost-faced bats, and naked-backed bats. They are found in the Americas from the Southwestern United States to Southeastern Brazil. [more]

    Mystacinidae

    Mystacinidae is a family of unusual bats, the New Zealand short-tailed bats. There is one living genus, Mystacina, with two extant species, one of which is believed to have become extinct in the 1960s. They are medium-sized bats, about 6 centimetres (2.4 in) in length, with grey, velvety fur. [more]

    Myzopodidae

    Myzopoda is the only genus in family Myzopodidae, a family of bats, endemic to Madagascar. [more]

    Natalidae

    The family Natalidae, or funnel-eared bats are found from Mexico to Brazil and the Caribbean islands. The family has three genera, Chilonatalus, Natalus and Nyctiellus. 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. [more]

    Noctilionidae

    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. 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. [more]

    Nycteridae

    Nycteridae is the family of slit-faced or hollow-faced bats. They are grouped in a single genus, Nycteris. The bats are found in East Malaysia, Indonesia and many parts of Africa. [more]

    Palaeochiropterygidae

    [more]

    Philisidae

    [more]

    Phyllostomidae

    The New World leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) are found throughout Central and South America, from Mexico to northern Argentina. They are ecologically the most varied and diverse family within the order Chiroptera. Most species are insectivorous, but the phyllostomid bats include within their number true predatory species as well as frugivores (subfamily Stenodermatinae and Carolliinae). For example, the False Vampire, Vampyrum spectrum, the largest bat in the Americas, eats vertebrate prey including small dove-sized birds. Members of this family have evolved to utilize food groups such as fruit, nectar, pollen, insects, frogs, other bats and small vertebrates, and, in the case of the vampire bats, even blood. [more]

    Rhinolophidae

    Horseshoe bats (Rhinolophidae) are a family of bats. In addition to the single living genus, Rhinolophus, there is one extinct genus, . The closely related Hipposideridae are sometimes included within the horseshoe bats as a subfamily, Hipposiderinae. Both families are classified in the suborder Yinpterochiroptera or Pteropodiformes and were previously included in Microchiroptera. [more]

    Rhinopomatidae

    Mouse-tailed bats are a group of insectivorous bats of the family Rhinopomatidae with only three to five species, all contained in the single genus Rhinopoma. They are found in the Old World, from North Africa to Thailand and Sumatra, in arid and semi-arid regions, roosting in caves, houses and even the Egyptian pyramids. They are relatively small, with a body length of just 5 to 6 centimetres. They weigh between 6 to 14 g. [more]

    Thyropteridae

    Disc-winged bats are a small group of bats of the family Thyropteridae. They are found in Central and South America, usually in moist tropical rain forests. It is a very small family, consisting of a single genus with four species. [more]

    Vespertilionidae

    Vesper bats (family Vespertilionidae), also known as evening bats or common bats, are the largest and best-known family of bats. They belong to the suborder Microchiroptera (microbats). Over three hundred species are distributed all over the world, on every continent except Antarctica. It owes its name to the Latin word vespertilio ("bat"), from vesper, meaning "evening". [more]

    At least 1,149 species and subspecies belong to the Family Vespertilionidae.

    More info about the Family Vespertilionidae may be found here.

    References

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    1. ^ Whitaker, J.O. Jr, Dannelly, H.K. & Prentice, D.A. (2004) Chitinase in insectivorous bats. Journal of. Mammalogy, 85, 15?18.
    2. ^ A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert, Edited by Steven Phillips and Patricia Comus, University of California Press, Berkeley p. 464

    Sources

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    Last Revised: August 24, 2012
    2012/08/24 13:17:33