Megadermatidae

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about bats in the family Megadermatidae. For the false vampire bats in the family Phyllostomidae, see
Phyllostomidae
.

Megadermatidae
Temporal range: Early Oligocene to Recent
Megaderma spasma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Superfamily: Rhinolophoidea
Family: Megadermatidae
H. Allen, 1864
Type genus
Megaderma
Geoffroy, 1810
Genera

Cardioderma

Lavia

Macroderma
Megaderma
Eudiscoderma

Megadermatidae, or false vampire bats, are a family of

uropatagium, but no tail. Many species are a drab brown in color, but some are white, bluish-grey or even olive-green, helping to camouflage them against their preferred roosting environments. They are primarily insectivorous, but will also eat a wide range of small vertebrates.[1]

Description

False vampire bats are relatively large, with combined head and body lengths that range from 65–140 mm (2.6–5.5 in). Their forearm lengths range from 50–115 mm (2.0–4.5 in). They all lack tails. The ghost bat is the largest member of the family. All the species have very large ears with divided tragi. They have long nose-leaves. All species are similar in that they lack upper incisors, though not all species have the same dental formulae.[2] The lesser false vampire bat and greater false vampire bat have a dental formula of 0.1.2.32.1.2.3 × 2 = 28, while the ghost bat, heart-nosed bat, Thongaree's disc-nosed bat, and yellow-winged bat have a dental formula of 0.1.1.32.1.2.3 × 2 = 26.[3][2]

Biology and ecology

These species are collectively called false vampire due to the old misconception that they were sanguivorous like the true vampire bats. The ghost bat, heart-nosed bat, lesser false vampire bat, and greater false vampire bat feed on insects and small vertebrates; the yellow-winged bat and Thongaree's disc-nosed bat are likely fully insectivorous.[3][2][4] The heart-nosed bat, greater false vampire bat, and the ghost bat are three of the few bat-eating bats in the world.[4][5] All species of this family are

nocturnal, with the exception of the yellow-winged bat which is sometimes active in daylight.[2]

Systematics

Rhinolophoidea

Megadermatidae (false vampire bats)

Craseonycteridae
(Kitti's hog-nosed bat)

Rhinopomatidae
(mouse-tailed bats)

Hipposideridae (Old World leaf-nosed bats)

Rhinolophidae
(horseshoe bats)

Internal relationships of the Rhinolophoidea, according to a 2011 study[6]
Megadermatidae

Megaderma spasma
(lesser false vampire bat)

Lyroderma lyra
(greater false vampire bat)

Lavia frons
(yellow-winged bat)

Cardioderma cor
(heart-nosed bat)

Macroderma gigas
(ghost bat)

Internal relationships of the Megadermatidae, according to a 2015 study[7]

Megadermatidae is a family within the Rhinolophoidea superfamily. Genetic analysis shows that it is the most basal member of the superfamily. It is a monophyletic family of bats, based on genetic analysis.[6]

There is confusion about the relationship of species within Megadermatidae. A 2015 study concluded that, while they did not have enough genetic data to fully resolve these relationships, the two

Eudiscoderma thongareeae, was not included in this analysis, as it was not described as a new species until 2015.[3]

Fossil record

Megadermatidae is a relatively old family, appearing in the fossil record as early as 37 million years ago.[6] Several fossil species have been described, including:[8]

Conservation

All Megadermatidae species are evaluated as

critically endangered.[12][13]

Classification

Macroderma gigas under artificial light at Perth Zoo, Australia

A list of extant species includes,

Family Megadermatidae

References

  1. ISBN 0-87196-871-1
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780801857898
    .
  3. ^
    PMID 25781844
    .
  4. ^
    JSTOR 1379685
    .
  5. ^ Nuwer, Rachel (10 May 2016). "The World's Carnivorous Bats Are Emerging From the Dark". Smithsonian.com. The Smithsonian. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  6. ^
    PMID 21327164
    .
  7. ^
    S2CID 82353183
    .
  8. ^ Hand, S. J. (1985). "New Miocene megadermatids (Chiroptera: Megadermatidae) from Australia with comments on megadermatid phylogenetics". Australian Mammalogy. 8 (1–2): 5–43.
  9. doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.40.1988.160
    .
  10. ISBN 9780868404356
    .
  11. ISSN 0016-6995
    .
  12. ^ Soisook, P. (2017). "Eudiscoderma thongareeae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T80263386A95642210.
  13. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T12590A3362578.en
    .

External links
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