Instead, species of leaf-nosed fruit bats appear to use scent to identify their preferred food sources. Many bats in the family Phyllostomidae appear to have limited reliance on echolocation, likely because frugivorous bats do not need to quickly identify flying insects like many other bats. Like other bats, leaf-nosed bats are nocturnal foragers that use echolocation to locate food sources, though the food sources vary between species. Leaf-nosed bats lack a tail, have triangular-shaped ears that can have pointed or rounded tips, range in body size from 4 cm to 13.5 cm, and a wingspan up to 90 cm or more. The nose-leaf can be adorned with a vertical leaf, a concave upward leaf, or multiple accessory leaves varying by species.
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New World leaf-nosed bats are bilaterally symmetrical and endothermic mammals characterized by an elaborate outgrowth of skin on their noses, called a nose-leaf, which is believed to aid in echolocation. The Phyllostomidae consist of 55 genera and about 180 species.
Leaf nosed bats evolved from Yangochiroptera and Miniopteridae with sister groups also evolving from this group. With an evolutionary history tracing back to the Oligocene, fossil and phylogenetic evidence suggests the family originated about 30 million years ago. The nose-leaf-a distinctive characteristic of the family-is thought to have evolved to reflect dietary and foraging behavior of different species of Phyllostomidae. This variation is measured by diversity in skull morphology and diet-related characteristics: Phyllostomidae consists of species that have evolved physical modifications for insectivory, frugivory, hematophagy, nectarivory, and omnivory. The Phyllostomidae, also known as New World leaf-nosed bats, are among the most ecologically diverse mammal families, displaying more morphological variation than any other mammalian family. They do not hibernate, although some species have been reported to aestivate. Most roost in fairly small groups within caves, animal burrows, or hollow trees, although some species aggregate in colonies of several hundred individuals. They range in size from 4.0 to 13.5 cm (1.6 to 5.3 in) in head-body length, and can weigh from 7 to 200 g (0.25 to 7.05 oz). New World leaf-nosed bats are usually brown, grey, or black, although five species are white. Similar nose leaves are found in some other groups of bats, most notably the Old World leaf-nosed bats. Because these bats echolocate nasally, this "nose-leaf" is thought to serve some role in modifying and directing the echolocation call. Members of this family have evolved to use food groups such as fruit, nectar, pollen, insects, frogs, other bats, and small vertebrates, and in the case of the vampire bats, even blood.īoth the scientific and common names derive from their often large, lance-shaped noses, greatly reduced in some of the nectar- and pollen-feeders. For example, the spectral bat ( Vampyrum spectrum), the largest bat in the Americas, eats vertebrate prey, including small, dove-sized birds. Most species are insectivorous, but the phyllostomid bats include within their number true predatory species and frugivores (subfamily Stenodermatinae and Carolliinae). They are ecologically the most varied and diverse family within the order Chiroptera. The New World leaf-nosed bats ( Phyllostomidae) are found from southern North America to South America, specifically from the Southwest United States to northern Argentina.
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