The Toltec fruit-eating bat (''Dermanura tolteca'') is a 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 also sometimes called the "lowland fruit eating bat."

Taxonomy

Three subspecies of the Toltec fruit-eating bat are recognized: ''A. t. toltecus'', the

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In th ...

; ''A. t. hesperus''; and ''A. t. ravus''.

Description

The Toltec fruit-eating bat is a small bat usually weighing under 16 g. The nominate is the largest of the subspecies. Its fur ranges from light brown in its northern habitats to blackish in Costa Rica and then paler in the northern ranges of South America. The darker individuals are typically found in the more humid regions while the lighter ones are in relatively dry habitats. ''A. t. ravus'' differs from the other subspecies in having white ear edges and clearer stripes below the eye.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies occurs along the eastern and western Mexican coast from Nuevo León and Sinaloa south through Central America including Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. It inhabits mountain ranges at mid-altitudes. ''A. t. hesperus'' is found in the Caribbean at elevations of 300-1,750 m. ''A. t. ravus'' occurs at lower elevations than the other groups in Colombia and northwest Ecuador.

Behavior

The species is

frugivorous 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 ...

and feeds mostly on fruits of '' Constegia volcanalis'', of ''

Cecropia ''Cecropia'' is a Neotropical genus consisting of 61 recognized species with a highly distinctive lineage of dioecious trees. The genus consists of pioneer trees in the more or less humid parts of the Neotropics, with the majority of the speci ...

'', and figs. The Toltec fruit-eating bat may roost in caves and under banana leaves, but it is also one of a variety of bats that build "tents" from plant leaves, using the leaves of

Anthurium ''Anthurium'' (; Schott, 1829) is a genus of about 1,000Mantovani, A. and T. E. Pereira. (2005)''Anthurium'' (section ''Urospadix''; subsection ''Flavescentiviridia'').''Rodriguesia'' 56(88), 145–60. species of flowering plants, the largest g ...

species to create diurnal roost that provide camouflage and protection from the weather. The bat modifies a single leaf to create its tent, cutting the basal nerve of the leaf with its teeth but not injuring the midline nerve of the leaf and thus leaving it alive. This causes the leaf to form a pyramid-shaped tent by folding down to the midrib.

Conservation

The species has been classified 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 ...

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 ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q139381 Toltec fruit-eating bat Bats of Mexico Bats of Central America Mammals of Colombia Toltec fruit-eating bat Taxonomy articles created by Polbot