''Chilonatalus macer'' is a species of bat

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Taxonomy

''Chilonatalus macer'' was described as a new species in 1914 by American zoologist Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

had been collected in

Baracoa Baracoa, whose full original name is: ''Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Baracoa'' ("Our Lady of the Assumption of Baracoa"), is a municipality and city in Guantánamo Province near the eastern tip of Cuba. It was visited by Admiral Christopher ...

, Cuba by William Palmer in 1902. Prior to 2011, it was frequently included as a subspecies within the

Cuban funnel-eared bat The Cuban funnel-eared bat (''Chilonatalus micropus'') is a species of bat in the family Natalidae. It is one of two species within the genus '' Chilonatalus'' and is found only in the Caribbean. Description All natalids have large, funnel-sh ...

, ''Chilonatalus micropus''. However, it is now most often regarded as a full species.

Description

It has a short forearm length of . Individuals weigh only .

Biology and ecology

''Chilonatalus macer'' is

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 ...

, consuming moths but also spiders. At any time, its stomach can hold up to 28.6% of its body weight. It is a colonial species, and forms aggregations in caves typically consisting of 30-50 individuals. In cool or dry caves, however, some individuals have been documented roosting solitarily.

Range and habitat

''Chilonatalus macer'' is found only in Cuba, where its range is the island of Cuba as well as the

Isla de la Juventud Isla de la Juventud (; ) is the second-largest Cuban island (after Cuba's mainland) and the seventh-largest island in the West Indies (after mainland Cuba itself, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Andros Island). The island was ...

. Fossil evidence supports that it was once found on the island of

Grand Cayman Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the territory's capital, George Town, Cayman Islands, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles (121 km) southwest of L ...

as well. In Cuba, it has been documented at a range of elevations from above sea level. Its habitat includes mesic forest, though it has been documented in drier habitat as well. It is nocturnal, roosting in sheltered places during the day such as humid

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q65053222 Chilonatalus Endemic fauna of Cuba Bats of the Caribbean Mammals described in 1914 Taxa named by Gerrit Smith Miller Jr.