Mormoopidae

The family Mormoopidae contains bats known generally as mustached bats, ghost-faced bats, and naked-backed bats. They are found in the Americas from the Southwestern United States to Southeastern Brazil.

Mormoopidae
Temporal range: Oligocene to Recent
Antillean ghost-faced bat's (Mormoops blainvillii) face by Ernst Haeckel (1904)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Superfamily: Noctilionoidea
Family: Mormoopidae
Saussure, 1860
Genera

Mormoops
Pteronotus
† Koopmanycteris

They are distinguished by the presence of a leaf-like projection from their lips, instead of the nose-leaf found in many other bat species. In some species, the wing membranes join over the animal's back, making it appear hairless. The tail projects only a short distance beyond the membrane that stretches between the hind legs. They are brownish in colour, with short, dense fur.[1] Their dental formula is:

Dentition
2.1.2.3
2.1.3.3

Mormoopid bats roost in caves and tunnels in huge colonies that may include hundreds of thousands of members, producing enough guano to allow commercial mining. They do not hibernate as some other bats do since they live in the tropics. They feed on insects found close to, or on, bodies of water.[1]

Classification

The family consists of two genera, containing around 13 species.

FAMILY MORMOOPIDAE

References
  1. Macdonald, D., ed. (1984). The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File. p. 805. ISBN 0-87196-871-1.


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