The great stripe-faced bat or stripe-faced vampire bat (''Vampyrodes caraccioli'') is a

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 found 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 ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and northwestern

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 ...

, as well as on

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

. The great stripe-faced bat is a frugivore. It is one of two species within the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Vampyrodes The great stripe-faced bat or stripe-faced vampire bat (''Vampyrodes caraccioli'') is a bat species found from southern Mexico to Bolivia and northwestern Brazil, as well as on Trinidad. The great stripe-faced bat is a frugivore. It is one of two ...

'' (Lesser vampire bat) the other being ''

Vampyrodes major The great stripe-faced bat or stripe-faced vampire bat (''Vampyrodes caraccioli'') is a bat species found from southern Mexico to Bolivia and northwestern Brazil, as well as on Trinidad. The great stripe-faced bat is a frugivore. It is one of two ...

''.

Taxonomy

The Great stripe-faced bat is member of the subfamily

Stenodermatinae Stenodermatinae is a large subfamily of bats in the family Phyllostomidae. List of species Subfamily Stenodermatinae *Genus: '' Ametrida'' ** Little white-shouldered bat, ''Ametrida centurio'' *Genus: '' Ardops'' ** Tree bat, ''Ardops nichollsi ...

in the larger family of Phyllostomidae. There are two species that are currently recognized within the genus of ''Vampyrodes'' and those are ''Vampyrodes caraccioli'' as well as ''Vampyrodes major''. The classification of the great stripe-faced bat has been controversial for many years, originally thought to be monotypic ''Vampyrodes major'' was first classified as a subspecies of ''Vampyrodes caraccioli'' but is now recognized as its own species due to recent morphological and molecular analysis of the two species.

Description

The Great stripe-faced bat is a medium to large sized frugivorous bat weighing on average between for a fully grown adult, and having an average forearm length of between respectively. The great stripe-faced bat is also characterized by the bright white stripes that streak the sides of the bat's face as well as the white mid dorsal stripe that extends from its crown to its rump. Great stripe-faced bats also have a distinguishing noseleaf which is highly developed and is longer than it is wide.

Behaviour and feeding

Being

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

frugivores, great stripe-faced bats roost during the day and begin foraging for fruit (mainly

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

s) and pollen to consume in the night. Great stripe-faced bats will rarely rest in the same roost on consecutive days and the females have been observed roosting in groups as large as 4 members while males roost on their own during the day. Great stripe-faced bats tend to create their day roosts in palm fronds, branches and foliage. Much like other members of the subfamily of Stenodermatinae the great stripe-faced bat has a litter size of one and practices seasonal polyestry.

Distribution and habitat

The distribution of the great stripe-faced bat is vast due to the species’ ability to adapt to a wide variety of different habitats, they can be found in a variety of different countries across Central and South America including eastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador,

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 ...

, northern Bolivia,

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, Trinidad and Tobago,

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

, and

. While great stripe-faced bats are a species of least concern according to IUCN they are still elusive. Great stripe-faced bats are frugivorous bats that have been known to feed from a variety of different fruiting plants, but mainly specialize in consuming

figs The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...

. Great stripe-faced bats will select an appropriate fruit from a tree and transport it to a feeding roost, which differs from the roosts where they rest during the day, and which will typically be less than 100 meters away from the fruiting tree.

Predation

Great stripe-faced bats are predated on by visual predators that employ sit and wait ambush tactics such as

owls Owls are birds from the Order (biology), order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly Solitary animal, solitary and Nocturnal animal, nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vis ...

and

opossums 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 ...

. Great stripe-faced bats have been observed staying in their day roosts on nights in which they would typically feed in response to clear moonlit nights, as this makes them more vulnerable to predation.

Status and conservation

According to 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 ...

, the great striped-faced bat is considered a species of least concern due to the fact that this bat species is very tolerant of a large variety of different habitats, and is widely dispersed across Central and South America. Also, while the population of these bats may be declining, it is likely not at a rate that would include it in the threatened category. While the great stripe-faced bat is a very adaptable species, it becomes less common at lower latitudes. Local governments should prioritize the preservation of the southernmost populations of the great stripe-faced bat.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q275968 Bats of South America Bats of Brazil Mammals of Colombia Phyllostomidae Mammals described in 1889 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Bats of Central America