Platyrrhinus lineatuswhite-lined broad-nosed bat

Geographic Range

P. lineatus occurs through the central portion of South America, extending south along the Andes from Colombia through Equador and Peru, east to northeastern Brazil, and further south to northern Argentina.

Habitat

These bats prefer damp forests. They roost mainly in the tops of trees, under the leaves, but have also been found on lower branches (particularly during stormy weather) and in caves.

Physical Description

White-lined bats have a stout muzzle, fairly large ears, and a well-developed noseleaf and tragus. The calcar is short. The fur is yellowish brown to dark brown on the back, and lighter on the ventral surface. True to their name, they have several white stripes. There are two on each side of the face, one running from the base of the noseleaf to the ear and the other across the cheek below the eye. There is also a white stripe on the animal's back.

  • Average mass
    22 g
    0.78 oz
    AnAge
  • Average basal metabolic rate
    0.25 W
    AnAge

Reproduction

In general, these bats can reproduce throughout the year and sometimes become pregnant again while still nursing the offspring from the previous pregnancy. In northeastern Brazil, however, there has been found to be a more restricted pattern of reproductive events. Pregnancies occur only from the early dry season in July through the end of the rainy season in early March, and there is a bimodal distribution of breeding and lactation during this period. Females normally give birth to a single offspring, although twinning is also possible. Gestation lasts approximately 3.5 months.

  • Key Reproductive Features
  • gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
  • sexual
  • Average number of offspring
    1
    AnAge
  • Average gestation period
    106 days
    AnAge

Lifespan/Longevity

  • Average lifespan
    Status: captivity
    13 years
    AnAge

Behavior

White-lined bats are social, and can usually be found roosting in small groups. Mothers roost with their pups, and females without young are found with a male and sometimes also with several other females. Males are thought to defend their access to groups of 1 to 15 females from other males. Groups often remain together while foraging as well. Like most other bats, this species is active mainly at night.

Communication and Perception

Food Habits

White-lined bats eat mainly fruit, but will also consume some insects (especially moths), and nectar from flowers.

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

White-lined bats disperse the seeds of fruit trees, pollinate some plants, and help control insect pests.

Conservation Status

Other Comments

This species was formerly known as Vampyrops lineatus.

Contributors

Deborah Ciszek (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Neotropical

living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.

World Map

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

Nowak, R.M. 1994. Walker's Bats of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

Willig, M.R., and R.R. Hollander. 1987. Vampyrops lineatus. Mammalian Species, No. 275, pp. 1-4. Published by The American Society of Mammalogists.