#cave mammals

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Going Batty for the Little Brown Bat

The little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) is a species of mouse-eared bat that lives throughout North America, from northern Canada to the southern United States. They are most commonly found in deciduous forests, but they also roost in man-made structures or caves; anywhere warm and dark.

M. lucifugus is aptly named, as it’s a relatively small bat. At most, individuals weigh 12.5 g (0.44 oz) and have a wingspan of 27 cm (10.6 in). Females are typically larger than males. The color of their fur can range from tan or red to dark brown, though the fur on their stomachs is lighter than the rest of their body. In addition to their large ears, which gives them a great hearing boost, the little brown bat has exceptional eyesight and is sensitive to ultraviolet light. However, they lack a Jacobson’s organ, which in other animals is used to detect moisture-borne odor particles.

Like other bats, the little brown bat is primarily nocturnal, emerging at dusk and feeding intermittently throughout the night. Individuals emit about 20 calls per second while in flight, and use the corresponding information to avoid obstacles and detect prey. They feed exclusively on insects, including mosquitoes, beetles, and flies, and in a single night an individual may consume over 2/3 of its body weight in food. Because their source of food is generally seasonal, little brown bats are only active in the warmer months of the year. When the temperature drops to 0 °C (32 °F), individuals will enter a state of torpor, in which their heart rate may drop as slow as 8 beats per minute.

Mating takes place in the fall, just before the hibernation season. Males and females gather together in large groups to roost, in a behavior known as swarming. During this period, colonies average around 9,000 individuals; the largest recorded had over 180,000. Both sexes mate with multiple partners, and homosexual pairings are relatively common. This behavior continue throughout the hibernation period, and individuals will pair indiscriminately with active and torpid bats. Once mated, female bats store their sperm for the following spring; they then carry their pregnancies for 50-60 days. Each female gives birth to only one pup, which weighs about 30% of her body weight.

Pups grow rapidly, opening their eyes and ears within a few hours of being born and becoming completely weaned at 26 days old. After this, young transition to feeding solely on insects, though they may receive help from their mothers while learning the best techniques for catching prey. Females are sexually mature at only one year old, and males mature at two years old. Once they reach maturity individuals will leave to form their own roosting groups. In the wild, a little brown bat can live up to 34 years; however, many bats are predated upon by owls during the active season, and by raccoons while hibernating.

Conservation status: The IUCN has rated M. lucifugus as Endangered. Their primary threat is a fungus-caused disease known as white-nose syndrome; this disease is particularly harmful to the little brown bat due to their large congregations during the mating and hibernation period.

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Photos

Jason Corbett

Joseph Johnson

Rick Reynolds

[paleoart]

I just realized that apparently I never shared this series here on Tumblr??  

I call it Living Paintings, as they are recreations of extinct animals that some artists actually saw and painted from memory, a long time ago.

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[witchstone]

Przewalski's Horse Equus ferus ssp. przewalskii 吐尔洪乡, 阿勒泰地区, 新疆维吾尔自治区 Turhong Township, Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China 45.271788, 88.766909 by almaatai

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Indiana Bat

An Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) captured outside Wyandotte Cave in southern Indiana.

By Justin Boyles

[makairodonx]

Unleash the Beasts: Part Four

A collection of animals from the Late Pleistocene of Europe, from bottom to top: Panthera spelaea, Urusus spelaeus, Bison bonasus, Crocuta crocuta spelaea, Equus ferus ferus, Bos primigenius, Megaloceros giganteus, and Mammuthus primigenius.

"We have since built museums to celebrate the past and have spent decades studying prehistoric lives…and if all of this has taught us anything…it is this…No species lasts forever...But the Beasts alone...shall prevail!"

- Narrator Kenneth Branagh in the alternate universe

[mesozoicmarket]

A fossilized canine tooth of a cave bear, or Ursus spelaeus from the Drachenhöhle in Mixnitz, Austria. The fossils of these prehistoric bears were commonly found during times of war as byproducts of phosphate mining.

[tsaagan]

Cave bear Ursus spelaeus, Science Centre Tietomaa, Oulu, Finland

[antiqueanimals]

The Evolution of the Mammals. Written by L. B. Halstead. Illustration by Sergio. 1978.

Internet Archive

[vickysaurus]

Cave bears. They have a little projected scene featuring humans spearfishing in a river outside.

[jupiterswasphouse]

Unless the third mob ends up being an insect or arachnid I'm super excited for, if the crab loses the Minecraft mob vote I will sob and cry

[johnnyslittleanimalblog]

Julinka  by Tambako The Jaguar Via Flickr:

[yasmeensh]

The kids found a bat 🦇

(bats are part of the world building lore >:3)

[paleoart]

Boy & Bear Spooky encounter with a cave bear for this year's Halloween 🎃

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[funkylittlebats]

I've been writing more again recently and I've been rereading some of my old stuff and I kinda wanna share some of it. But first,

I'd also have to come up with a tag for them so they're all searchable (to the extent that you can search tags on tumblr)

Here's a cute bat for your time

[sitting-on-me-bum]

A lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) in Mexico.

Sweet Bat Portraits Dispel Stereotypes of These Incredibly Important Mammals

Photographer: Dr. Merlin Tuttle

An adult male eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) in Florida.

A spotted bat (Euderma maculatum) in Utah.

Cave nectar bats (Eonycteris spelaea) are found throughout most of Southeast Asia where they are extraordinarily important pollinators of ecologically and economically important trees, including durian, petai, wild banana and mangroves. They live in cave entrances where they form large, conspicuous colonies. In the past their colonies sometimes included up to a million or more individuals, but except where protected, their numbers have declined alarmingly.

[makairodonx]

Sketches of some Eurasian animals that were part of the famous Pleistocene Megafauna, from bottom to top: Crocuta crocuta spelaea, Bos primigenus, Elamotherium, Ursus spelaeus, and Mammuthus trogontherii