The Jamaican flower bat (''Phyllonycteris aphylla'') is a critically endangered 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

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 ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described by American zoologist Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. in 1898. He initially placed it in the genus ''Reithronycteris'', which is now

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

with '' Phyllonycteris''. The specimen that he described was collected in Jamaica; the date of collection and the exact location are unknown. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

used to describe the species has since been lost. Its

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''aphylla'' was derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

word áphullos, meaning "leafless." This is likely in reference to its small

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 ...

Description

It weighs . Its total body length is . Its forearm is long. On the dorsal side of the forearm, its skin is pink. Its ears are long and wide. The tragus is . It has a disc-shaped, basic

at the end of its

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, Rostrum (anatomy), rostrum, beak or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the n ...

. The fur is short, with individual hairs approximately long on its back and long on its belly. Its feet are very large in relation to its body, at , and the

uropatagium 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 b ...

lacks a

calcar The calcar, also known as the calcaneum, is the name given to a spur of cartilage arising from inner side of ankle and running along part of outer interfemoral membrane in bats, as well as to a similar spur on the legs of some arthropods. The cal ...

. Like other members of the

Glossophaginae Glossophaginae is a subfamily of leaf-nosed bats. List of species Subfamily: Glossophaginae * Tribe Glossophagini **Genus: '' Anoura'' - Geoffroy's long-nosed bats ***'' Anoura aequatoris'' *** Cadena's tailless bat, ''Anoura cadenai'' *** Tai ...

subfamily, it has a long tongue tipped with

lingual 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 ...

. Its skull is larger and more robust than most other Glossophagines, though. Fur is silky in texture. Dorsal fur is blond or light gold, while ventral fur is almost white. Its flight membranes are dark brown or almost black in color.

Biology

It is a

social species Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies. Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother was ...

, living in

colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

with other members of its species and other species of bat. Its colonies can number several hundred individuals. It depends on caves for roosting habitat, and cannot exist without them. Little is known about its reproduction, though Goodwin 1970 reported finding a pregnant female in January, per McFarlane 1986. It eats fruit, pollen, nectar, and possibly insects. In 1965, a female individual was held in captivity for one month before dying, living on a diet of banana, papaya, mango, and canned fruit nectar.

Range and habitat

It is only found on

. It is currently only known to roost in four caves: Marta Tick Cave, Green Grotto Caves, Rock Spring Caverns and the largest population at Stony Hill Cave. Previously, a "sizeable colony"–the only one known for this species–roosted in St. Clair Cave, although the Jamaican flower bat is no longer found there. Per McFarlane 1986, Goodwin 1970 stated that the bat could be found in three caves: St. Clair Cave, Riverhead Cave, and Mt. Plenty Cave. Goodwin also stated that fossilized remains of the species had been found in Wallingford and Runaway Bay Caves.

Conservation

As of 2015, it is currently evaluated as

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. It meets the criteria for this evaluation because it is only known from two caves, the population size is estimated at fewer than 500 individuals, and its population size is likely in decline. The Jamaican flower bat used to occur in five or six caves, but now only occurs in two. Part of its decline in St. Clair Cave may be attributed to the population of

feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact; it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

s living in the cave and preying on bats. Its estimated area of occupancy is . From 2008 to 2015, the IUCN had listed this species as

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

, which is the lowest risk level of extinction. This species is threatened by human disturbance to caves.

References

External links

Image of this species
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1831141 Phyllonycteris Bats of the Caribbean Endemic fauna of Jamaica Mammals of Jamaica Bat, Jamaican flower Mammals described in 1898 Taxa named by Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. Taxonomy articles created by Polbot