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Chrotopterus auritus

Chrotopterus auritus

Chrotopterus auritus

Cladus: Eukaryota
Supergroup: Opisthokonta
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Classis: Mammalia
Subclassis: Theria
Infraclassis: Eutheria
Ordo: Chiroptera
Subordo: Microchiroptera
Superfamilia: Noctilionoidea
Familia: Phyllostomidae
Subfamilia: Phyllostominae
Genus: Chrotopterus
Species: Chrotopterus auritus

Name

Chrotopterus auritus Peters, 1856

Type locality: Mexico.

Synonyms

australis Thomas, 1905
guianae Thomas, 1905


References

Peters, 1856. Abhandl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1856: 305.
Conservation status: IUCN link: Chrotopterus auritus (Least Concern)
Chrotopterus auritus in Mammal Species of the World.
Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, 2 Volume Set edited by Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder


Distribution

Veracruz (Mexico) south to the Guianas
South Brazil
Peru
Bolivia
North Argentina


Vernacular names
English: Woolly False Vampire Bat.

The Big-eared Woolly Bat (or (Peter's) Woolly False Vampire Bat), Chrotopterus auritus, is a bat species native to Central and South America, where it is found from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, Paraguay and southern Brazil. It is monotypic within its genus.

They are large predatory bats, the second largest bat species in the neotropics, and feed on fruits, beetles, moths, lizards, small mammals (including opossums and rodents), birds (including passerine birds) and other bat species. They can take prey of up to 70 g weight, but usually feed on smaller vertebrates of 10 to 35 g.

This bat species lives in warm subtropical forests, usually roosting in caves and hollow logs where they, sometimes, bring their prey to eat. Sometimes they cannot be found in disturbed forests.

Big-eared Woolly Bats fly slowly, partially because of their size, flying at 1 or 2 meters above ground and usually in dense thickets. They give birth to a single young after a gestation period of more than 100 days. Colonies size vary between one to seven individuals, consisting of a male-female adult pair and young(s).

References

Chiroptera Specialist Group 1996. Chrotopterus auritus. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 26 October 2008.
Theodore H. Flemming, 2003. A Bat Man in the Tropics: Chasing El Duende.
Eisenberg, J.F. and Redford, K.H. 1999. "Mammals of the Neotropics, Volume 3: The Central Neotropics: Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil". University of Chicago Press.
Louise H. Emmons and François Feer, 2000. Neotropical Rainforest Mammals.

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Source: Wikipedia, Wikispecies: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License