Jamaican Fruit Bat
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The Jamaican, common, or Mexican fruit bat (''Artibeus jamaicensis'') is a frugivorous
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 ...
species
native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...
to 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 ...
.


Description

The Jamaican fruit bat is a medium-sized bat, having a total length of with a wingspan and weighing . It has broad but pointed and ridged ears with a serrated tragus. Its prominent noseleaf has an array of sebaceous glands. The lower lip is littered with warts with a relatively large one in the center. Sebaceous holocrine glands can be found in both lips. On the back the fur is an ashy-shade of gray or brown with visible white hair bases and variable fur patterning on the face. The wings of the fruit bat are broad and dark gray in color. The underfur is paler in color. The fruit bat has no external tail. It has broad dark grey wings and a narrow hairless interfemoral membrane with a short
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 ...
. The distinctive features of the Jamaican fruit bat (which however are shared by some of its relatives) include the absence of an external tail and a minimal, U-shaped
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 ...
. A transcriptome dataset is available with more than 25,000 annotated transcripts that are directly searchable by BLAST. A
genome assembly In bioinformatics, sequence assembly refers to aligning and merging fragments from a longer DNA sequence in order to reconstruct the original sequence. This is needed as DNA sequencing technology might not be able to 'read' whole genomes in one ...
has also been generated.


Distribution and habitat

The Jamaican fruit bat ranges from southern
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 ...
through
Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
southward to northwestern
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
(in
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
). It also lives throughout 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 ...
islands of the
Greater Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australian ...
and
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 ...
, as well as the southern
Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...
. The Jamaican fruit bat can be found in elevations from sea level to .Eisenberg. 1989. ''Mammals of the Neotropics: The northern Neotropics'', University of Chicago 1:1-449. This species is found in a variety of habitats. It prefers habitats that are humid and tropical but has also adapted to cloud forests and drier tropical habitats. Fruit bats roost in caves, hollow trees, dense foliage, buildings and leaf tents.Timm R. M. 1987. Tent construction by bat of the genera ''Artibeus'' and ''Uroderma''. Pp 187–212 in Studies in Neotropical Mammalogy, essays in honor of Philip Hershkovitz (B. D. Patterson and R. M. Timm, eds.) ''Fieldiana Zoology'', New Series 39:1-506. The fruit bat may create its own "tent" to roost in by altering broad leaves. These "tents" are only temporarily used.


Taxonomy

Populations east of the
Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
in South America (south to
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 ...
) have traditionally been included in the Jamaican fruit bat, but are now often regarded as a separate species, the flat-faced fruit-eating bat (''A. planirostris''). Further research is necessary to establish its exact
taxonomic 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme of classes (a taxonomy) and the allocation ...
status. Further populations in
Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
,
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
and southwestern Colombia west of the Andes were attributed to a new species, ''
Artibeus aequatorialis ''Artibeus aequatorialis,'' also known as Anderson's fruit-eating bat or the Ecuadorian fruit-eating bat, is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. The bat is endemic to northwestern South America west of the Andes mountain range. Taxo ...
''. The Lesser Antilles populations have since been described to be ''
Artibeus schwartzi ''Artibeus schwartzi'', or Schwartz's fruit-eating bat, is a species of bat found in the Lesser Antilles. It was previously considered a subspecies of the Jamaican fruit bat, (''A. jamaicensis''). It has been hypothesized that it arose from hybr ...
''.


Diet

The Jamaican fruit bat 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 ...
. They eat a number of kinds of fruit but focus mostly on figs; at
Barro Colorado Island Barro Colorado Island is located in the man-made Gatun Lake in the middle of the Panama Canal. The island was formed when the waters of the Chagres River were dammed to form the lake in 1913. When the waters rose, they covered a significant part ...
,
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
, figs make up more than 78% of the fruits eaten. Bats will also supplement leaves of plants with high amounts of protein. Overall, the fruit bat consumes a diverse amount of plants but locally only eats certain types. A Jamaican fruit-eating bat plucks its food and carries it away with its mouth before eating it in its roosts. As such it can disperse seeds fairly far. Fruit bats have been recorded carrying fruits weighing or even as much as . Jamaican fruit bats rely on sight and smell to find fruit of certain colors and odors. They mainly feed on ''
Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family (biology), family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few spe ...
'' figs and also on other fruits like avocados, mangoes, guava, papaya and bananas. In the dry season, their diet can consist of leaves of plants whose foliage has large amounts of protein, nectar, pollen, flower pieces and a few insects.


Mortality

The maximum longevity for the Jamaican fruit bat is nine years in the wild. Predators of fruit bats include
owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
s,
snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...
s, large
opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 126 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North A ...
s, and
coati Coatis (from Tupí), also known as coatimundis (), are members of the family Procyonidae in the genera '' Nasua'' and '' Nasuella'' (comprising the subtribe Nasuina). They are diurnal mammals native to South America, Central America, Mexico, ...
. Bats from various sites have been found with ''
Histoplasma capsulatum ''Histoplasma capsulatum'' is a species of dimorphic fungus. Its sexual form is called ''Ajellomyces capsulatus''. It can cause pulmonary and disseminated histoplasmosis. ''Histoplasma capsulatum'' is "distributed worldwide, except in Antarc ...
''. Some individual bats may have
rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. It was historically referred to as hydrophobia ("fear of water") because its victims panic when offered liquids to drink. Early symptoms can include fever and abn ...
. Fruit bats also are susceptible to various internal parasites: nematodes and ringworms, and external parasites: mites, ticks and chiggers.


Behavior

When in their roosts, the Jamaican fruit bat has a reproductive system known as "resource defensive
polygyny Polygyny () is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); . Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent. Some scholar ...
". That is, males will claim an area as a territory and females select the best territories to roost and mate in. Subadult males may remain in their natal roosts while females may leave to gather with other females elsewhere. In caves where there are enough roosting sites, there is some "female defensive polygyny". Here, harem males actively defend females during the breeding seasons and will attack satellite males that roost in the walls and ceilings of caves. However, they tolerate males who are subordinate to them in their
harems A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...
. Satellite males are more common in large groups than smaller groups and dominant and subordinate males will cooperate to defend harem females. In large groups, dominant males may be the fathers of the subordinates. When bats going on foraging trips, it is the dominant males that are the first to leave to the roosting sites and the last to return. At dusk, males spend much time flying near the tree roosts displacing any intruders. Jamaican fruit bats are most active at midnight; following that, activity begins to die down. When captured, a Jamaican fruit bat will warn conspecifics with a distress call made of a long series of pulses typically lasting 15 kHz. The Jamaican fruit bat will also react to the distress calls of other species and to their own recorded calls. The fruit bat is considered a whisper bat and makes three low-intensity FM pulses during flight and when resting.


Breeding

Breeding in the Jamaican fruit bat is bimodal and polyestrous with births being dependent on fruit abundance. Females give birth twice a year with one young on average for each birth. Mating is highest at the end of the wet season and births take place in the dry months. Embryonic development may delay in the second breeding season but parturition will occur in the follow breeding period. The testes of the males enlarge when females enter estrous. The testes tend to be slightly larger in harem males than bachelors and the canine teeth tend to be more worn in the former. Copulation occurs until 2–25 days after the previous births. Pups born in a harem may sometimes be sired by satellite or subordinate males depending on the size of the group. Gestation is usually 3.5–4 months but can be as long as 7 months when there's delayed embryonic development. The female gives birth while perching and the newborn emerges unaided, head first. The mothers will eat the placenta. Mothers carry their pups when they are one day old but later leave them in the roosting area for the day. The female's nipples become enlarged during lactation. Young are weaned by 15 days. Young gain a full, permanent set of teeth at 40 days and can fly by 50 days when their forearms are fully developed. Females are sexually mature by eight months and males by 12 months.


Status

Throughout most of its range, the Jamaican fruit bat is numerous. It was found to be the most influential of the frugivorous bat community. The fruit bat has greater ecological importance in wet habitats. The Jamaican fruit eating bat does not seem to be threatened from a conservation standpoint. It appears to be common regardless of any
habitat disruption 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 ...
. However, it may damage fruit crops in certain areas.


References


External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q301175 Artibeus Bats of Central America Bats of the Caribbean Bats of South America Bats of Mexico Mammals of the Bahamas Mammals of Colombia Mammals of Cuba Mammals of Jamaica Mammals of Haiti Mammals of the Dominican Republic Mammals of Puerto Rico Fauna of Southern Mexico Least concern biota of North America Least concern biota of South America Mammals described in 1821 Taxa named by William Elford Leach