The tree bat (''Ardops nichollsi'') is a species of

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

in the family Phyllostomidae and the only species in the genus ''Ardops''. It is found in the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

of the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, in

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

Saba Saba may refer to: Places * Saba (island), an island of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea * Sabá, a municipality in the department of Colón, Honduras * Șaba or Șaba-Târg, the Romanian name for Shabo, a village in Ukraine * Saba, ...

Saint Martin Saint Martin may refer to: People * Saint Martin of Tours (c. 316–397), Bishop of Tours, France * Saint Martin of Braga (c. 520–580), archbishop of Bracara Augusta in Gallaecia (now Braga in Portugal) * Pope Martin I (c. 595–655), bishop of R ...

Sint Eustatius Sint Eustatius, known locally as Statia, is an island in the Caribbean. It is a Caribbean Netherlands, special municipality (officially "Public body (Netherlands), public body") of the Netherlands. The island is in the northern Leeward Islands ...

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

Nevis Nevis ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

and

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sometimes known simply as Saint Vincent or SVG, is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the south ...

Taxonomy and evolution

''Ardops nichollsi'' was described by

Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for ...

in 1891 as ''Stenoderma nichollsi'', and assigned to ''Ardops'' by Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. in 1906. It is the only species in the genus. Several of the subspecies were initially considered full species, but were reconsidered in a 1967 paper by J. Knox Jones and

Albert Schwartz Albert Schwartz may refer to: * Albert Schwartz (swimmer) (1907–1986), American attorney and Olympic swimmer * Albert Schwartz (zoologist) Albert Schwartz (September 13, 1923 – October 18, 1992) was an American zoologist who worked e ...

which examined newly collected specimens and found little difference in the variation between the named species. The subspecies vary considerably in size but otherwise are very similar. There are five known subspecies: * ''A. n monstserratensis:'' found on the northern Lesser Antilles, from St. Martin to

Marie-Galante Marie-Galante (, or ) is one of the dependencies of Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France. Marie-Galante has a land area of . It had 11,528 inhabitants at the start of 2013, but by the start of 2018 the total was officially estimated to ...

. Jones and Schwartz considered ''A. n. annectens'', found on

, Marie-Galate, and Antigua a separate subspecies based on morphological data. However, a 2017 analysis considered it as a synonym of ''A. n. monsterratensis'' based on reanalysis of the morphological data, though they did not have any genetic data from bats from Guadeloupe to test directly. ''A. n. monsterratensis'' is the largest subspecies. * ''A. n. nichollsi'': found on

. * ''A. n. koopmani'': found on

. * ''A. n. luciae'': found on

St. Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

. * ''A. n. vincentensis:'' found on

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305 ...

. Identified by genetic analysis and smaller size in 2017. The genus is approximately 1.8 to 2.0 million years old.

Description

The tree bat has brown fur, with the back varying from Prout's brown to buffy brown and the front "rich brownish, tinged with grayish white". There is a white spot where the wing meets the body, typically more prominent in females than males. The species is

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

, with females larger than the males. The magnitude of the sexual dimorphism varies between the subspecies.

Behaviour and ecology

The tree bat, as the name suggests, roosts in trees. Its habitat is typically forest. It is a

frugivore A frugivore ( ) is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance ...

In popular culture

The tree bat has been featured on the $7.5 stamp of Grenada, and a $4 stamp from Montserrat.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q301186 Phyllostomidae Mammals described in 1891 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Bats of the Caribbean Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Mammals of Dominica Mammals of Grenada Mammals of Guadeloupe Mammals of Martinique Mammals of Montserrat Mammals of Saint Kitts and Nevis Mammals of Saint Lucia Mammals of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines