Carollia perspicillataSeba's short-tailed bat
Geographic Range
Central and South America: S, Mexico to Bolivia, Paraguay, and SE Brazil; to 2,400 m elevation.
- Biogeographic Regions
- neotropical
Habitat
Found in the moist evergreen and dry deciduous forests, usually below 1,000m but up to 1,500m.
- Terrestrial Biomes
- forest
- rainforest
Physical Description
- Other Physical Features
- endothermic
- bilateral symmetry
Reproduction
Two reproductive periods. The larger one coincides with peak fruit productions, (June-August) and the other with the blooming of flowers at the end of the dry season (Feb.-May.) Gestation is 115-120 days. Newborns weigh about 5g.
- Key Reproductive Features
- gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
- sexual
Lifespan/Longevity
-
- Average lifespan
Status: captivity - 12.4 years
- Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
- Average lifespan
Behavior
Will enter a state of torpor when food is lacking. Gregarious with generalized roost requirements. Roost in groups of 10-100 in caves, hollow trees, tunnels road culverts,and less commonly in rocks, under leaves and in buildings. Two roost types: Harem (adult male with many females) and Bachelor (adult and sub adult males without a harem). Peak activity is right after sunset.
- Key Behaviors
- motile
Communication and Perception
Food Habits
Generalist, feeding on a least 50 different species of fruit. Also pollen and insects. Generally forage close to the ground.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Important disperser for many plants. Bats eat up to around 35 fruits of the genus Piper per night, which translates to 350-2,500 seeds dispersed per night per individual. Also may be an important pollinator to many plant species.
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
None known.
Conservation Status
Common and widespread.
-
- IUCN Red List
-
Least Concern
More information
Other Comments
Has an excellent sense of smell.
Contributors
Michael Mulheisen (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Glossary
- Neotropical
-
living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.
- bilateral symmetry
-
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- endothermic
-
animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.
- forest
-
forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
- motile
-
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- rainforest
-
rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
References
Cloutier, D., and Thomas, D.W. 1992. "Carollia perspicillata: Mammalian Species" No. 417, pp.1-9, 3 figs. American Society of Mammalogists.