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Natalidae

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Funnel-eared bats
Mexican funnel-eared bat (Natalus stramineus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Superfamily: Vespertilionoidea
Family: Natalidae
Gray, 1866
Type genus
Natalus
Gray, 1838
Genera

The family Natalidae, or funnel-eared bats, are found from Mexico to Brazil and the Caribbean islands.[1] The family has three genera, Chilonatalus, Natalus and Nyctiellus. They are slender bats with unusually long tails and, as their name suggests, funnel-shaped ears. They are small, at only 3.5 to 5.5 cm (1.4 to 2.2 in) in length, with brown, grey, or reddish fur. Like many other bats, they are insectivorous, and roost in caves.[citation needed]

Geographic changes and isolation methods have affected the differences among species within this family of Natalie's. Like the Natalus from Cueva La Barca, males seem to have longer tibias and greater skulls than that of females and when comparing them to the Greater Antilles, they have the largest body in the genus.

Natalus prefer warm and humid caves as roost sites and were mostly in Cuba but most fossils have been found there likely due to erosion. These hot caves are no longer in Cuba and that could have led to the extinction of Natalus in major areas of Cuba.[2]

Classification

[edit]

Family Natalidae contains the following 10 species in 3 genera:[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Natalidae - funnel eared bats". nhptv.org. New Hampshire PBS.
  2. ^ Tejedor, A., Silva-Taboada, G., & Rodríguez-Hernández, D. (2004). Discovery of extant Natulus major (Chiroptera: Natalidae) in Cuba. Mammalian Biology, 69(3), 153-162.


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