The

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 ...

family Noctilionidae, commonly known as bulldog bats or fishing bats, is represented by two extant species, the greater and the lesser bulldog bats, as well as at least one fossil species, '' Noctilio lacrimaelunaris'', from the Miocene of Argentina. The naked bulldog bat ('' Cheiromeles torquatus'') does not belong to this family, but to the family Molossidae, the

free-tailed bat The Molossidae, or free-tailed bats, are a family of bats within the order Chiroptera. The Molossidae is the fourth-largest family of bats, containing about 110 species as of 2012. They are generally quite robust, and consist of many strong-fly ...

s. They are found near water in the

Neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeog ...

, from

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 ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and also in the

Caribbean islands Most of the Caribbean countries are islands in the Caribbean Sea, with only a few in inland lakes. The largest islands include Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. Some of the smaller islands are referred to as a ''rock'' or ''reef.'' ''I ...

. In these areas they can be found roosting in groups within hollow trees, caves, manmade homes, or other openings with enough space. While the two species exhibit different social and foraging behaviors both tend to return to a main roosting spot while also visiting other alternative roosting spots.

Description

The bulldog bats have orange to brown fur, and range in head-body length from 7 to 14 cm and weight of 20-75 g, which makes them quite large. They have relatively long legs, large feet (exceptionally so in the case of the greater bulldog bat), and strong claws. Their wings are long (up to 60 cm in spread) and narrow, and their ears are large, funnel shaped and pointed. Unusual among bats, they have cheek-pouches for storing food. They also have full lips divided by a fold of skin giving a 'hare lip' look which together with the cheek pouches gives them their

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

-like appearance. Their maxillae and premaxillae are fused for the strong support of the large upper medial incisors. Dental formula: 2/1, 1/1, 1/2, 3/3 = 28. The molars are tuberculosectorial. Unlike in other bats, the last cervical vertebra is not fused with the first thoracic. The wing second finger has a long metacarpal and a vestigial phalanx. The ischia are fused to each other and to the

sacrum The sacrum (: sacra or sacrums), in human anatomy, is a triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1S5) between ages 18 and 30. The sacrum situates at the upper, back part of the pelvic cavity, ...

. The latter is keel-like.

Ecology and behaviour

The species of lesser bulldog bats are

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we ...

, and while the greater bulldog bats also eat insects, their chief food is fish (piscivorous). They use their echolocation to pinpoint the ripples they make on the surfaces of water. The greater bulldog bat trawls the water with its long, curved talons approximately 2–3 cm below the surface. It makes sweeps of between 30 cm and 3 m before ascending and turning to make a return sweep. In a single night, the bat may catch 20-30 small fish in this way. Piper, Ross (2007), ''Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals'',

Greenwood Press Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG) was an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which was part of ABC-Clio. Since 2021, ABC-Clio and its suite of imprints, including GPG, are collectively imprints of B ...

. Shortly after bulldog bats are born, they react behaviorally to sound (pinna reflex) and emit short ultrasounds. With their genetically big feet, they cling to their mothers. They don't begin to fly until 5-6 weeks postnatally and continue to nurse for up to 3 months..

References

External links

** * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulldog Bat Noctilionidae Extant Pleistocene first appearances Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus