Mexican long-tongued bat

Long- nose bat

The long-nosed bat ( Choeronycteris mexicana ) is a species of bat in the family of leaf lobes ( Phyllostomidae ), which is native to Central America. It is the only species of its genus.

The genus name is a combination of the Greek words choiros (pig) and nykteris ( bat ). The species name refers to the main distribution area in Mexico.

Description

The long-nosed bat is a medium- sized bat with a weight of 10-20 g The coat is grayish - brown, with the belly is lighter than the back. The ears are of a light gray, while the flight skin is dark gray and has slightly lighter tips. Like all representatives of flower bats also has an elongated snout and they like the most representative of the sheet tabs a prominent nose leaf, which is in this way 5 mm long. The upper incisors are tiny and separated by a gap, while the lower incisors are missing completely. This allows the bat to stretch the tongue by a kind of channel. The edges and the tip of the tongue is provided with bristle-like papillae. These facilitate the bat the uptake of nectar from calyxes. At 77 mm the tongue of the long-nosed bat is one of the longest among the bats.

Way of life

The habitat of the long-nosed bat extends over dry bush areas to tropical forests. Like most bats this species is nocturnal. They feed mainly on nectar and pollen, but also eats fruits and insects.

The long-nosed bat is an important pollinators of various species of cacti and agave. In addition, the nature contributes significantly to the spread of cactus seeds.

During the day, the long-nosed bat hangs in dimly lit areas of caves and abandoned mines. Uncommon for bats keep the animals involved within the groups an individual distance of 2-5 cm from each other. Long- nosed bats depend mostly with only one foot from the ceiling, so that they can rotate up to 360 ° and to see intruders quickly. The animals are considered to be very vigilant and can be easily disturbed.

Dissemination

The distribution of the long-nosed bat ranges from southern Arizona through Mexico and Guatemala to Honduras. Your stock is classified by the IUCN as near threatened, since the type probably depends on agaves and in recent years the populations have declined by 30%.