Amorphochilus schnabliismoky bat
Geographic Range
Neotropical Region: found on Puna Island off the cost of Equador [ Nowak, 1997], along the coast of Peru, on an island in northern Peru, and in northern Chile.
- Biogeographic Regions
- neotropical
Habitat
Found in forests, arid regions and in cultivatied areas; caves and abandoned buildings.
Physical Description
The color of fur ranges from slate gray to dark brown. In this family (Furipteridae) the thumb is greatly reduced and the claw is absent, or if not absent it is non-functional. The thumb has actually become included in the propatagium. The forearm is approximately 30mm in length. The tail is approximately 30mm long and ends just short of the border of the uropatagium. The teeth are dilambdadont. The noseleaf is lacking or greatly reduced. Amorphochilus schnablii differs from ~Furipterus horrens` in the height of the braincase and in lacking wartlike growths on its muzzle and lips. These growths might be used for tasting its food.
- Other Physical Features
- endothermic
- bilateral symmetry
-
- Range mass
- 3 to 5 g
- 0.11 to 0.18 oz
-
- Average mass
- 3.3 g
- 0.12 oz
-
- Range length
- 38 to 58 mm
- 1.50 to 2.28 in
Reproduction
- Key Reproductive Features
- gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
- sexual
-
- Breeding season
- June, August, and October
-
- Average number of offspring
- 1
Behavior
Found in small groups up to 300 individuals.
Communication and Perception
Food Habits
Amorphochilus schnablii mainly eat moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera).
- Primary Diet
- carnivore
- Animal Foods
- insects
Conservation Status
-
- IUCN Red List
-
Endangered
More information
Contributors
Sarah Blessing (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ondrej Podlaha (editor), 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.
- carnivore
-
an animal that mainly eats meat
- chaparral
-
Found in coastal areas between 30 and 40 degrees latitude, in areas with a Mediterranean climate. Vegetation is dominated by stands of dense, spiny shrubs with tough (hard or waxy) evergreen leaves. May be maintained by periodic fire. In South America it includes the scrub ecotone between forest and paramo.
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- colonial
-
used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.
- 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.
- insectivore
-
An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.
- 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.
- nocturnal
-
active during the night
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
References
Bret Weinstein, , Phil Myers. 1997. "Furipteridae" (On-line). Accessed October 10, 2001 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/chordata/mammalia/chiroptera/furipteridae.html.
Edited by Dr. David Macdonald, 1999. The Encycopedia of Mammals. New York, NY: Facts On File, Inc..
Hayssen, V., A. Van Tienhoven, A. Van Tienhoven. 1993. Asdell's Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction. Ithaca, NY: Comstock Publishing Company Inc..
Nowak, R. 1997. "Walker's Mammals of the world 5.1" (On-line). Accessed October 2, 2001 at http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/walker/chiroptera/chiroptera.furipteridae.amorphochilus.html.