Lonchorhina

Head of the sword nose ( Lonchorhina aurita )

The Sword tabs ( Lonchorhina ) are a bat genus of the subfamily of the lance noses ( Phyllostominae ) with five species. You are in Central and South America, distributed from Mexico to Southeast Brazil.

Sword noses have their name whose top may be higher than the skull of their greatly elongated nose leaf. The ears are also large and pointed. These adjustments are used to send and receive ultrasonic sounds with which they are based and can locate prey. The fur of these animals is usually colored red-brown. With a body length 51-74 mm and a weight of 9-14 grams, they are among the smaller members of the lance noses.

Sword noses inhabit diverse habitats, they live both in the rainforest and in dry savannas. They are nocturnal and sleep during the day in groups of up to 500 animals in caves or crevices. Often they share their quarters with other bat species, for example, the short-tailed leaf noses. Only in complete darkness they leave their hiding-places to go hunting for prey. Sword noses feed almost exclusively on insects and spiders. The propagation is controlled seasonal, mostly in the rainy season comes, a single young is born.

There are five types:

• The Actual sword nose ( Lonchorhina aurita ) is distributed from Mexico to Bolivia and southern Brazil.
• Lonchorhina orinocensis lives in southeast Columbia and southern Venezuela.
• Lonchorhina fernandezi is known only from the southern Venezuela.
• Lonchorhina marinkellei is distributed from Colombia to French Guiana.
• Lonchorhina inusitata lives in the northeastern South America and was described in 1997 as a species.

Due to the destruction of their habitat, the sword noses are threatened, the IUCN lists fernandezi L. and L. marinkellei as endangered.