#thyroptera tricolor

[todaysbat]

Hello! Can I request spix’s disk wing bat?

(I’ve never done an ask before so sorry if I misunderstood the post)

You did just fine, don't worry.

image description: a group of fuzzy brown bats looking up at the camera from their roost, a rolled up Heliconia leaf. image source: Christian Ziegler, via Bat Conservation International

Spix’s Disk-winged Bat (Thyroptera tricolor) Unlike other bat species, these bats roost with their heads pointed upwards.

[abataday]

Spix’s Disk-Winged Bat (Thyroptera tricolor)

I chose a difficult photo reference this time, because these lil dudes look exactly like screaming puffballs with stick-arms from this angle... On the plus side, it’s my first art with more than one bat! Double the bat double the fun double the flavor!

If you have followed this blog for a while, these bats may look suspiciously familiar, especially those round pads on their wrists. But these are not close relatives to the sucker-footed bats in family Myzopodidae- they’re one of five species in a different family, Thyropteridae. And they evolved their sucker-feet completely separately!

The great irony is that, unlike the sucker-footed bats, which use wet adhesion, these bats DO use actual suction to stick to leaves. They have four beautifully round little suction cups on their wrists and ankles, along with reduced thumbs and barely-functional tiny feet. (Feet are unnecessary when you have suction cups.) A ring of cartilage surrounded by muscle allows these bats to contract their suckers to create suction. Like the sucker-footed bats, they prefer to roost head-up, but unlike them, they are able to roost pointing in any direction because they don’t slide around.

The force generated by the bats’ suction cups is so strong that they can support their whole weight hanging by just one.

Disk-winged bats roost in curled up leaves of plants such as Heliconia, and use the furled trumpet shapes of the leaves to amplify their calls to other bats flying nearby. They have to frequently change roosts, as the leaves they sleep in quickly mature and unfurl, so recognizing the individual calls of their family members is crucial and helps them regroup after a night of hunting insects alone.

[wapiti3]

Spix’s disk-winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor) 

Spix’s disk-winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor), is an insectivorous[2] species of bat in the family Thyropteridae.[3] Although this species is unevenly dispersed, it is widespread and is therefore considered as having a “least concern” status on the conservation list.[1] The most prominent anatomical feature of this bat, separating it from other bats, is the presence of disks on its thumbs and hind feet. These circular disks act as suction cups, allowing the bats to cling onto and move along smooth surfaces.[3] Unlike most bats, T. tricolor clings head—up from its roost. This phenomenon is observed in six bat species which occur among two families, Thyroptera spp. and Myzopoda spp. The former are known as disk—winged, whereas the latter as sucker—footed. Although the two families represent an occurrence of parallel evolution, the manner in which their unique adhesive anatomy is utilized differs morphologically.[4]These bats cling head—up to the smooth inner, ventral surfaces of the rolled up leaves with openings at the top, of Heliconia, sometimes Calathea, as well as other similar plants, using their adhesive disks.[2] This manner of roosting is said to facilitate rapid escape in the event of a potential disturbance.[5] The bat’s disks take the shape of concave cups, and are supported by an internal cartilaginous plate. An extrinsic muscle, the flexor pollicis brevis, attaches to the plate, such that contraction of the muscle alters overall disc shape,[4]creating suction. In order to maintain the integrity of the disk, T. tricolor is observed to groom the disk, by frequently licking it. In addition to that, the disk contains sweat glands which discharge onto its peripheries, thereby maintaining it in a constantly moist condition.[3]

source-wikipedia and calphoto database

[cutecrzy]

The suction cups of the Spix Disk-winged Bat (Thyroptera tricolor) allow it to roost inside large, smooth immature leaves. These are one of the few bat species which roost facing head up. via /r/Awwducational https://ift.tt/2Gy66WF https://ift.tt/2GyeOQA

[horrorlollis]

Move over, Spider-man! The Spix Disk-winged Bat (Thyroptera tricolor) can stick to surfaces using its biological suction cups on its thumbs and heels. They live in small groups inside furled leaves which they can use like bugles.

[todaysbat]

Spix’s Disk-winged Bat (Thyroptera tricolor)

These bats are unique for more than just the suction cups on their wings that they use to roost in rolled up leaves. Unlike most other bat species they roost upside up. That's right, in the photo above, the bats are looking up at you.

Image description: A group of fluffy brown puffball-looking bats roosting in a rolled up green leaf (Heliconia) using tiny suction cups on their wings to hang on as they look up at the camera

Image source: Christian Ziegler

[todaysbat]

Round One - Dad Bat is the best

The Spectral Bat (Vampyrum spectrum) is the most dad of bats and the largest bat species in the Americas. It has soft reddish brown fur and a prominent nose leaf to match its size. This bat species is carnivorous, catching its food with the recurved grooved cat like claws on its thumbs. It roosts either individually or in small colonies of up to five—one such colony was found to consist of an adult male, an adult female, two juveniles (one six month old male and a younger female, both believed to be the offspring of the adults), and a nursing pup. The male spectral bat helps in raising pups, and is often found roosting with his wings wrapped around his mate and their offspring.

The Spix's Disk-Winged Bat (Thyroptera tricolor) is a reddish brown to black bat with a cream colored underside. It is one of six species of bat known to roost head upwards.

[todaysbat]

Bat of the Year 2024 || Full list of nominees

Here are the 20 nominees for Bat of the Year 2024:

Rafinesque's Big-Eared Bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii)

Florida Bonneted Bat (Eumops floridanus)

Pallid Bat (Antrozous pallidus)

Common Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus)

Whalberg's Eppauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus wahlbergi)

Hairy Legged Vampire Bat (Diphylla ecaudata)

Pied Butterfly Bat (Glauconycteris superba)

Spix's Disk-Winged Bat (Thyroptera tricolor)

Spectral Bat (Vampyrum spectrum)

Canyon Bat (Parastrellus hesperus)

Indian Flying Fox (Pteropus giganteus)

Egyptian Fruit Bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus)

Honduran White Bat (Ectophylla alba)

Gould's Wattled Bat (Chalinolobus gouldii)

Srini’s Bent-Winged Bat (Miniopetrus srinii)

Mexican Free-Tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis)

Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus)

Trident Leaf-Nosed Bat (Asellia tridens)

Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus)

Malaysian Flying Fox (Pteropus vampyrus)

[todaysbat]

bat of the year 2023 final round

Painted Bat (Kerivoula picta) is a distinctive bat of southeast Asia with orange and black markings. Often referred to as the Halloween bat due to its coloration, this bat is believed to use its bright colors as camouflage as it blends in with dried leaves and flowers as it roosts.

Spix's disc winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor) is a native of the Americas, ranging from Mexico to Brazil. It gets its name from the disks on its thumbs and hind feet.

[todaysbat]

bat of the year 2023 round four

Giant Golden-crowned flying fox (Acerodon jubatus) is one of the largest species of bat, with a wingspan of 4.9-5.6 feet (1.5-1.7 m). Also known as the golden-capped fruit bat, this species is native to the Philippines.

Spix's disc winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor) is a native of the Americas, ranging from Mexico to Brazil. It gets its name from the disks on its thumbs and hind feet.

[todaysbat]

Bat of the Year 2023 Round One Masterpost

Chapin's Free-Tailed Bat (Chaerephon chapini) vs Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus): LINK TO POLL

Pallid Bat (Antrozous pallidus) vs Evening Bat (Nycticeius humeralis): LINK TO POLL

Gould’s Wattled Bat (Chalinolobus gouldii) vs Pekapeka-tou-roa/New Zealand Long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus): LINK TO POLL

Painted Bat (Kerivoula picta) vs Honduran White bat (Ectophylla alba): LINK TO POLL

Kitti’s hognosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) vs Mexican Free-Tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis): LINK TO POLL

Giant Golden-crowned flying fox (Acerodon jubatus) vs Ghost Faced Bat (Mormoops megalophylla): LINK TO POLL

Common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) vs Wahlberg's epauletted fruit bat (Epomophorus wahlbergi): LINK TO POLL

Spix's disc winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor) vs Spectral bat (Vampyrum spectrum): LINK TO POLL

The following automatically advance to Round Two:

Little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus)

Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus)

Florida bonneted bat (Eumops floridanus)

Common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus)

[todaysbat]

Bat of the Year 2023 Round One

Spix's disc winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor) is a native of the Americas, ranging from Mexico to Brazil. It gets its name from the disks on its thumbs and hind feet.

Spectral bat (Vampyrum spectrum) hails from the Americas as well. It is the largest carnivorous bat in the world, eating birds, rodents and other bats. While it has been recorded eating bats out of researchers' mist nets, spectral bats seem to mainly eat birds. The largest prey item recorded was the white-tipped dove, a bird species close in size to the spectral bat. Because its prey can be so large, it's likely that they only need to catch a bird every two or three days. This bat is one of two species where it is known that the male provides parental care, sleeping with his wings wrapped around his mate and their offspring.

[todaysbat]

2023 Bat of the Year

So the plan is that each Saturday, starting March 4, 2023, is the beginning of a new round, each lasting a week, until we have a winner.

Here are this year's contestants (I tried to be as diverse as possible in my selections, although Europe is underrepresented in this list):

Little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus)

Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus)

Florida bonneted bat (Eumops floridanus)

Common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus)

Painted Bat (Kerivoula picta)

Spix's disc winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor)

Giant Golden-crowned flying fox (Acerodon jubatus)

Pallid Bat (Antrozous pallidus)

Evening Bat (Nycticeius humeralis)

Ghost Faced Bat (Mormoops megalophylla)

Spectral bat (Vampyrum spectrum)

Honduran White bat (Ectophylla alba)

Gould’s Wattled Bat (Chalinolobus gouldii)

Common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus)

Kitti’s hognose bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai)

Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus)

Chapin's Free-Tailed Bat (Chaerephon chapini)

Mexican Free-Tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis)

Wahlberg's epauletted fruit bat (Epomophorus wahlbergi)

Pekapeka-tou-roa/New Zealand Long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus)

[todaysbat]

Bat of the year 2023 round three

Spix's disc winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor) is a native of the Americas, ranging from Mexico to Brazil. It gets its name from the disks on its thumbs and hind feet.

Wahlberg's epauletted fruit bat (Epomophorus wahlbergi) is commonly found across southern Africa. This species looks an awful lot like Stellaluna from the classic children's book (where she is only identified as being a nonspecific fruit bat).

[todaysbat]

Bat of the Year 2023 Round Two Masterlist

Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus) vs Little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus): LINK TO POLL

Pekapeka-tou-roa/New Zealand Long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) vs Common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus): LINK TO POLL

Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) vs Mexican Free-Tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis): LINK TO POLL

Florida bonneted bat (Eumops floridanus) vs Wahlberg's epauletted fruit bat (Epomophorus wahlbergi): LINK TO POLL

Automatically advancing to the next round:

Pallid Bat (Antrozous pallidus)

Giant Golden-crowned flying fox (Acerodon jubatus)

Spix's disc winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor)

[todaysbat]

bat of the year 2023 round four masterpost

Painted Bat (Kerivoula picta) vs Pallid Bat (Antrozous pallidus): Link to poll

Giant Golden-crowned flying fox (Acerodon jubatus) vs Spix's disc winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor): Link to Poll

Next round is the final round!!