Insular single leaf bat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Insular single leaf bat |
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|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Monophyllus
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| Species: |
plethodon
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The insular single leaf bat (also called the Lesser Antillean long-tongued bat) is a special kind of leaf-nosed bat. It gets its name from a small, leaf-shaped flap on its nose. You can find this bat living on the Lesser Antilles islands, which are in the sunny Caribbean Sea.
How Scientists Study This Bat
Scientists gave the insular single leaf bat its official name in 1900. A scientist named Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. was the one who first described it. The very first bat of this type that scientists studied was found in Saint Michael, Barbados. This first bat is called the "holotype."
There are three main groups, or subspecies, of this bat. They are M. p. plethodon, M. p. luciae, and M. p. prater. Sadly, one of these groups, the Puerto Rican long-nosed bat (M. p. prater), is no longer alive today. It is extinct.
What Does the Insular Single Leaf Bat Look Like?
This bat is one of the larger bats in its group, called Monophyllus. You can tell it apart from similar bats by looking at its upper teeth. Its upper premolars are very close together.
Here are some facts about its size:
- Its forearm (the part of its wing) is about 38.8–45.7 mm (1.53–1.80 in) long.
- Its whole body, from head to tail, is about 67–84 mm (2.6–3.3 in) long.
- Its tail is quite short, only about 8–16 mm (0.31–0.63 in) long.
- It weighs about 12.5–17.2 g (0.44–0.61 oz), which is about as much as a few grapes.
This bat has 34 teeth in total. It has a special tooth arrangement, or "dental formula," that helps scientists identify it.
Where Does This Bat Live?
The insular single leaf bat lives across many islands in the Lesser Antilles. These islands are in the Caribbean Sea.
You can find this bat in places like:
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- The Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba)
- Dominica
- Guadeloupe
- Martinique
- Montserrat
- Saint Barthélemy
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Martin
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
These bats live in different kinds of places, called habitats. They can be found in forests and also in areas where people grow crops, like farms. They live from sea level up to about 550 m (1,800 ft) high in the mountains.
