Musonycteris harrisoni Schaldach &amp; McLaughlin 1960
Creators: name: Wilson, Don E.
name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Phyllostomidae
Musonycteris
Musonycteris harrisoni

description: 79. Banana Bat <i>Musonycteris harrisoni</i> <b>French:</b> Musonyctere des bananiers / <b>German:</b> Bananenfledermaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musonicterio del bananero <b>Other common names:</b> Colima Long-nosed Bat, Trumpet-nosed Bat <b>Taxonomy.</b> Musonycteris harrisoni Schaldach &amp; McLaughlin, 1960, “ 2 km. southeast of Pueblo Juarez (formerly Hacienda LLa Magdalena), Colima, México.” This species is monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> C Pacific coast of Mexico (Jalisco to Guerrero), reaching inland to Morelos, México, and Puebla states. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body 81-89 mm, tail 8-12 mm, ear 13-17 mm, hindfoot 10-14 mm, forearm 41-4-44-5 mm; weight 10-13-5 g. There is slight sexual dimorphism, with males having longer rostra (19-21 mm) than females (17-19-5 mm). The Banana Bat is small, with extremely elongated rostrum that harbors extremely long tongue. Fur is grayish brown; hair bases are paler. Ears are small and rounded. Uropatagium is complete, fully encloses short tail, and has dark, inverted U-shaped pattern. Rostrum is distinctly longer than post-rostral part of cranium. Dental formula is I 2 /0, Cl1/1,P2/35.M 3/3 (x2) = 30. Dentition is characterized by missing lower incisors and large diastemata among cheekteeth. <b>Habitat.</b> Tropical dry forest on west coast of Mexico (“selva baja”), mostly in lowlands but up to elevations of ¢. 1700 m. Habitat of the Banana Bat is characterized by distinct dry and wet seasons. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> The Banana Batis a distinct nectar specialist and feeds almost entirely on nectar and pollen from a wide variety of nocturnal flowers, including columnar cacti, such as Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum (Cactaceae), trees such as Pseudobombax ellipticum and Ceiba spp. (Malvaceae), and some herbs such as Cleome spinosa (Cleomaceae). Its long tongue allowsit to extract nectar up to 7 cm inside flowers and gives it year-round access to all available nectar sources. Its common name is rather unfortunate and refers to it often being captured in banana plantations; however, because these plants came from the Old World,there is no evolutionary relationship between them and the Banana Bat. <b>Breeding.</b> The Banana Bat has one reproductive peak per year, with reproductive females observed mostly during dry season in March-April. <b>Activity patterns.</b> Banana Bats are nocturnal. Roost information is extremely limited, butit has been observed under rocky overhangs and in caves, mines, and culverts. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> The Banana Bat generally occurs at lower densities than other sympatric nectarfeeding bat species such as the Lesser Long-nosed Bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) or Pallas’s Long-tongued Bat (Glossophaga soricina). It probably roosts in very small groups. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. The Banana Bat occurs in Mexican tropical dry forest thatis highly threatened so its loss is of major conservation concern. <b>Bibliography.</b> Gonzalez-Terrazas et al. (2012), Ibarra-Cerdena et al. (2007), Marin et al. (2016), Orozco-Lugo et al. (2013), Ortega et al. (2009), Sperr et al. (2011), Tellez &amp; Ortega (1999), Tschapka etal. (2008).
description: Published as part of <i>Don E. Wilson &amp; Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Phyllostomidae, pp. 444-583 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions</i> on page 524, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6458594