The

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Natalidae, or funnel-eared bats, are found 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 ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and 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. The family has three

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

, '' Chilonatalus'', ''

Natalus The genus (biology), genus ''Natalus'' of Natalidae, funnel-eared bats is found from Mexico to Brazil and the Caribbean islands. They are slender bats with unusually long tails and, as their name suggests, funnel-shaped ears. They are small, at on ...

'' and '' Nyctiellus''. They are slender bats with unusually long tails and, as their name suggests, funnel-shaped ears. They are small, at only in length, with brown, grey, or reddish fur. Like many other bats, they 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 roost in caves. Geographic changes and isolation methods have affected the differences among species within this family of Natalie's. Like the Natalus from Cueva La Barca, males seem to have longer tibias and greater skulls than that of females and when comparing them to the Greater Antilles, they have the largest body in the genus. Natalus prefer warm and humid caves as roost sites and were mostly in Cuba but most fossils have been found there likely due to erosion. These hot caves are no longer in Cuba and that could have led to the extinction of Natalus in major areas of Cuba.Tejedor, A., Silva-Taboada, G., & Rodríguez-Hernández, D. (2004). Discovery of extant Natulus major (Chiroptera: Natalidae) in Cuba. Mammalian Biology, 69(3), 153-162. Due to the endangerment of the Natalus primus species of the Natalidae family in Cuba, they are currently only found in one distinct cave in the Guanahacabibes National Park. In order to better understand this species and efficiently recognize them to help reverse their endangered status, researchers have tracked their vocalization patterns. They found that the Natalus primus species have a distinct echolocation sounds. It was deduced that the Natalus primus create short, high- pitched tones. This finding is important to the growth of research in this field for this species because it allows scientists and wildlife researchers to gather information about this species without furthering the damage of their habitat and population.

Classification

Family Natalidae contains the following 10 species in 3 genera: *Genus '' Chilonatalus'' ** Cuban funnel-eared bat, ''Chilonatalus micropus'' ** Bahaman funnel-eared bat, ''Chilonatalus tumidifrons'' *Genus ''

'' ** Brazilian funnel-eared bat, ''Natalus macrourus'' ** Jamaican greater funnel-eared bat, ''Natalus jamaicensis'' ** Hispaniolan greater funnel-eared bat, ''Natalus major'' ** Mexican greater funnel-eared bat, ''Natalus mexicanus'' ** Cuban greater funnel-eared bat, ''Natalus primus'' **

Mexican funnel-eared bat The Mexican funnel-eared bat (''Natalus stramineus'') is a bat species. Despite its name, it is native to the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbea ...

, ''Natalus stramineus'' ** Trinidadian funnel-eared bat, ''Natalus tumidirostris'' *Genus '' Nyctiellus'' **

Gervais's funnel-eared bat Gervais's funnel-eared bat (''Nyctiellus lepidus'') is a species of bat in the family Natalidae. It is the only species within the genus ''Nyctiellus''. It is found in Bahamas and Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island co ...

, ''Nyctiellus lepidus''

References

Bat families Taxa named by John Edward Gray {{bat-stub