Madagascar sucker-footed bat

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Madagascar sucker-footed bat
Temporal range: Pleistocene to Recent

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Myzopodidae
Genus: Myzopoda
Species:
M. aurita
Binomial name
Myzopoda aurita
Madagascar sucker-footed bat range

The Madagascar sucker-footed bat, Old World sucker-footed bat, or simply sucker-footed bat (Myzopoda aurita) is a species of

Least Concern".[1]

The bat is named for the presence of small cups on its wrists and ankles. They roost inside the rolled leaves of the traveller's tree,[4] using their suckers to attach themselves to the smooth surface.[5] Despite the name, it is now known that the bats do not use suction to attach themselves to roost sites, but instead use a form of wet adhesion by secreting a body fluid at their pads.[6] The ankle and wrist pads of the bat are controlled by muscle contraction and allow the bat to separate the pads to reduce the adhesive effect. This allows the bats to climb with ease and to remove themselves from surfaces after sticking. Due to this property the Madagascar sucker-footed bat is one of the few bat species that roosts with its head up rather than upside down. This is so the bat does not accidentally lose control of the adhesive pads while it is sleeping due to the muscle tension associated with roosting upside down.[7]

Because of their unique habitat, sucker-footed bats don't carry

ectoparasites, due to the smooth surface of the Ravenala leaves being inhospitable to small arthropods[4] The majority of sucker-footed bats caught in eastern Madagascar were within or close to stands of traveller's trees,[4] and according to research, the maximum distance they will travel while foraging is about 1.8 km (1.1 mi).[4] Sucker-footed bats feed largely on beetles and small moths.[4][8]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T14288A22073303.en
    . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. ^ H., Schliemann; Goodman, S.M. (2003). "Myzopoda aurita, Old World sucker-footed bat". The Natural History of Madagascar: 1303–1306.
  3. doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2006.08.001
    .
  4. ^
    doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2010.00724.x
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0-87196-871-5
    .
  6. ^ Brown University News, December 2009, Bats Don’t Use Suction After All
  7. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2009.01362.x
    .
  8. ^ Göpfert, M.C.; Wasserthal, L.T. (1995). "Notes on echolocation calls, food and roosting behavior of the Old World sucker-footed bat Myzopoda aurita (Chiroptera, Myzopodidae)". Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde. 60: 1–8.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Madagascar_sucker-footed_bat&oldid=1121364924"