The greater long-nosed bat or Mexican long-nosed bat (''Leptonycteris nivalis'') 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. It is found in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It chiefly consumes pollen and nectar, particularly from

agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the arid regions of the Americas. The genus is primarily known for its succulent and xerophytic species that typically form large Rosette (botany), rosettes of strong, fleshy leaves. Many plan ...

plants and cacti. Its

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

includes desert scrub and open woodlands, however, it is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

Description

They are sooty brown in color, with a darker dorsally and lighter ventrally. Individual hairs are white at the base, and silver at the tips. Their forearms are long.Baker, R. J., & Cockrum, E. L. (1966). Geographic and ecological range of the long-nosed bats, Leptonycteris. Journal of Mammalogy, 47(2), 329-331. They have moderately-furred

interfemoral membrane The patagium (: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flying. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, theropod dinosaurs (including ...

s, and their short tails only have three vertebrae.Hensley, A., Wilkins, K. 1988. Mammalian Species. The American Society of Mammalogists. 307(1-4). Their muzzles are elongated, and their tongues are long and tipped with

filiform papillae Lingual papillae (: papilla, ) are small structures on the upper surface of the tongue that give it its characteristic rough texture. The four types of papillae on the human tongue have different structures and are accordingly classified as circum ...

. The tongue attaches at the posterior side of the

sternum The sternum (: sternums or sterna) or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major bl ...

. Their

nose-leaf A nose-leaf, or leaf nose, is an often large, lance-shaped nose, found in bats of the Phyllostomidae, Hipposideridae, and Rhinolophidae families. Because these bats Animal echolocation, echolocate nasally, this nose-leaf is thought to serve a role ...

s are triangular and erect. The average mass is Their ears are long. Like other

nectarivore In zoology, a nectarivore is an animal which derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of the sugar-rich nectar produced by flowering plants. Nectar as a food source presents a number of benefits ...

s, this species has

reduced Reduction, reduced, or reduce may refer to: Science and technology Chemistry * Reduction (chemistry), part of a reduction-oxidation (redox) reaction in which atoms have their oxidation state changed. ** Organic redox reaction, a redox reacti ...

teeth, missing the third molar while the other two molars are weakly cusped. Loss of teeth and dental ridges indicate accurately that their diet does not necessitate biting and chewing.Dumont, E. R. (1997). Cranial shape in fruit, nectar, and exudate feeders: implications for interpreting the fossil record. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 102(2), 187-202.

Range

The species is found in southern

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, and

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

from June through August. It is found in central

throughout the rest of the year. They roost primarily in caves and mines, but can also be found in unoccupied buildings, hollow trees, and even sewers. While it has been alleged that the bats are found as far south as

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

,Simmons, N. B. 2005. Chiroptera. Pp. 312–529 in Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference (D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder, eds.). Third edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. the IUCN disputes this notion, and lists its southernmost occurrence as central

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

Reproduction

Little research has focused on reproduction in this species, but there are speculations based on this limited body of work. Mating occurs in November and December in Cueva del Diablo, which coincides with the greatest availability of food around the cave. They likely have a

polygynandrous Polygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season. In sexually reproducing diploid animals, different mating strategies are employed by males and females, because the cost of gam ...

mating system, where males and females mate multiple times with different individuals.Caballero, L. 2004. Observaciones sobre la conducta reproductiva de Leptonycteris nivalis (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) en Tepoztlán, Morelos, México. Tesis de Licenciatura. Facultad de Ciencias. UAEM Because male

testes A testicle or testis ( testes) is the gonad in all male bilaterians, including humans, and is homologous to the ovary in females. Its primary functions are the production of sperm and the secretion of androgens, primarily testosterone. The ...

are significantly larger during the mating season and females mate with multiple males, there is likely

sperm competition Sperm competition is the competitive process between Spermatozoon, spermatozoa of two or more different males to fertility, fertilize the same Egg cell, egg during sexual reproduction. Competition can occur when females have multiple potential m ...

between males. Females are hypothesized to exhibit

sperm storage Female sperm storage is a biological process and often a type of sexual selection in which sperm cells transferred to a female during mating are temporarily retained within a specific part of the reproductive tract before the oocyte, or egg, is fe ...

embryonic diapause Embryonic diapause (delayed implantation in mammals) is a reproductive strategy used by a number of animal species across different biological classes. In more than 130 types of mammals where this takes place, the process occurs at the blastocys ...

. It is thought that they are monoestrous; therefore they only breed once per year.

Birth Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...

likely occurs during May, during female migration to northern Mexico or the southwestern United States. Litters likely consist of a single pup.Davis, W.B. 1974. The mammals of Texas. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 41:1-294. Males are likely non-migratory, and adult males are rarely encountered in the United States.Adams, E. R. (2015). Seasonal and nightly activity of Mexican long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris nivalis) in Big Bend National Park, Texas (Doctoral dissertation, Angelo State University). Females form maternity colonies in the northern parts of their range, with

lactating Lactation describes the secretion of milk from the mammary glands and the period of time that a mother lactates to feed her young. The process naturally occurs with all sexually mature female mammals, although it may predate mammals. The proces ...

females and their young arriving at a cave in Texas in June.Schmidly, D.J. 1991. The Bats of Texas, Texas A&M Press, College Station, TX There are records, however, of pregnant females arriving as early as mid-April, which shows that some females do not give birth until completing migration. Based on censuses, it is thought that the pups do not become volant until July.Ammerman, L. K., McDonough, M., Hristov, N. I., & Kunz, T. H. (2009). Census of the endangered Mexican long-nosed bat Leptonycteris nivalis in Texas, USA, using thermal imaging. Endangered Species Research, 8(1-2), 87-92. The adult females and their young leave Texas in August.

Ecology

While the greater long-nosed bat consumes nectar from the same plants as the southern long-nosed bat, the two species utilize different habitats. The greater long-nosed bat prefers higher altitudes and lower temperatures than the southern long-nosed bat, though they're both found in dry habitats.Arita, H. T. (1991). Spatial segregation in long-nosed bats, Leptonycteris nivalis and Leptonycteris curasoae, in Mexico. Journal of Mammalogy, 72(4), 706-714. The greater long-nosed bat selects habitats with more pine and oak trees than the southern long-nosed bat. The species mates in only one known cave–Cueva del Diablo near

Tepoztlán Tepoztlán () is a town in the central Mexican state of Morelos. It is located at in the heart of the Tepoztlán Valley. The town serves as the seat of government for the municipality of the same name. The town had a population of 14,130 inhabit ...

, Mexico, which it shares with the

common vampire bat The common vampire bat (''Desmodus rotundus'') is a small, leaf-nosed bat native to the Americas. It is one of three extant species of vampire bats, the other two being the Hairy-legged vampire bat, hairy-legged and the white-winged vampire bats ...

and Parnell's mustached bat. The greater long-nosed bat consumes nectar from multiple plants, including tree-like cacti, ''

Ceiba ''Ceiba'' is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae, native to Tropics, tropical and Subtropics, subtropical areas of the Americas (from Mexico and the Caribbean to northern Argentina) and tropical West Africa. Some species can grow to tall ...

'' trees, shaving brush trees, morning glory trees, powder puff plants, flowering shrubs, and four species of ''

Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the arid regions of the Americas. The genus is primarily known for its succulent and xerophytic species that typically form large Rosette (botany), rosettes of strong, fleshy leaves. Many plan ...

'' (''Agave dasylirioides'', ''Agave horida'', ''Agave inaequidens'', and Agave of Salm).Sánchez, R., & Medellín, R. A. (2007). Food habits of the threatened bat Leptonycteris nivalis (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in a mating roost in Mexico. Journal of Natural History, 41(25-28), 1753-1764. This species is highly opportunistic, rotating its dietary selection as different plants come into bloom.

Conservation

Population numbers of this species have likely been in decline for several decades. In 1988, the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...

listed it as

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

. The species is listed as threatened in Mexico. In 1995, The Program for the Conservation of Migratory Bats between Mexico and the United States was started by a concerned group of international bat specialists in response to a decline of multiple bat species in Mexico. PCCM has been valuable in conducting

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

es of the greater long-nosed bats in Cueva del Diablo. To reduce vandalism in Cueva del Diablo and promote appreciation of bats, PCCM created a series of children's books, educational activities, and TV reports. In 2013,

Bat Conservation International Bat Conservation International (BCI) is an international nongovernmental organization working to conserve bats and their habitats through conservation, education, and research efforts. BCI was founded in 1982 by bat biologist Merlin Tuttle, wh ...

listed this species as one of the 35 species of its worldwide priority list of conservation. There is evidence that the population in the United States has increased since 1984, with the population in Arizona one hundred times greater in 2000 than it was in 1984. Because it is a highly colonial species, disturbance at a single cave can have a significant negative impact on the entire species.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q302110 Leptonycteris Bats of Central America Bats of Mexico Bats of the United States Bat, Greater Mammals described in 1860 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot ESA endangered species