Antillean fruit-eating bat

Description

Brachyphylla cavernarum is a bat from the genus Brachyphylla that occurs in the Antilles from Puerto Rico to Barbados and Saint Vincent.The related but smaller B.nana from the rest of the Greater Antilles is sometimes seen as a subspecies of B.cavernarum.Three subspecies are recognized: minor Miller,1913 on Barbados,cavernarum Gray,1834 in the rest of the Lesser Antilles and on Saint Croix in theVirgin Islands,and Intermedia Swanepoel & Genoways,1978 on Puerto Rico and the rest of the Virgin Islands.The species is known from the Late Pleistocene of Puerto Rico and the Holocene of Antigua.The species is found in all kinds of habitats,from rainforests to gardens.Usually the animal rests in humid caves or tunnels,where they form large colonies (in Antigua an estimated colony included more than 20,000 animals).Because the animals are aggressive to each other,the colonies are noisy and restless during the day.B.cavernarum eats pollen,nectar,fruit and insects.Fruit trees are often "attacked" by large groups of B.cavernarum,with Jamaican fruit vampireswho also want to grab a piece of corn are chased away.Probably the animals mate in February and the young are born in June after a four-month pregnancy.A young person begins to fly spontaneously after two months.In a good year,females can have a second young.B.cavernarum is a large,powerful bat.The short snout ends in a nose leaf that looks like the nose of a pig.The long,thick coat is dirt-white to brown.The wings are broad.Males are usually larger than females.For the largest subspecies,cavernarum,the total length is 80 to 103 mm,the hindfoot length 17 to 23 mm,the ear length 18 to 24 mm,the forearm length 59 to 71.1 mm,the skull length 30.4 to 33.3 mm,the wingspan is about 440 mm and the weight 34 to 55 g.For the minor subspecies minor,the total length is 86 to 94 mm,the hindfoot length 20 to 23 mm,the ear length 22 to 23 mm,the forearm length 59.2 to 63.1 mm and the skull length 29.6 to 31.2 mm.Thekaryotype is 2n = 32,FN = 60,the body temperature about 40 ° C.