The Leaf-nosed bats, family Phyllostomidae are by far the most varied and diverse within the whole order Chiroptera and count within their number true predatory species that take vertebrate prey including small Dove -sized birds in the case of the False Vampire, Vampyrum spectrum, the largest bat in the Americas.
Within the group, species have evolved to utilize food groups such as fruit, nectar, pollen, insects, frogs, other bats and small vertebrates, and closely allied families that feed on fish Noctilionidae and the three highly specialised species that feed on blood.
The family gets its name from the often large, lance shaped nose projection used to direct their sonar, though some of the nectar/pollen feeders have greatly reduced it.
There are 148 species within 48 genera which are listed below.
The representative genera:
Ametrida
Anoura (Geoffroy's Long-nosed Bats)
Ardops (Tree Bat)
Ariteus (Jamaican Fig-eating Bat)
Artibeus (Neotropical Fruit Bats)
Brachyphylla
Carollia (Short-tailed Leaf-nosed Bats)
Centurio (Wrinkle-faced Bat, Or Lattice-winged Bat)
Chiroderma (Big-eyed Bats, Or White-lined Bats)
Choeroniscus
Choeronycteris (Mexican Long-nosed Bat, Or Hog-nosed Bat)
Phyllostomidae is a stunning family from the point of view of trophic adaptations and guilds.
The common vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus (Phyllostomidae) is considered to be a luciphogous animal that prefers to rest on dark and moist roosts (Taddei 1983).
Although Phyllostomidae is the most diverse bat family in Brazil, with 78 species (Aguiar and Taddei 1995), its predominance may be considered, to some extent, as a bias of the principal collection method used, being mist nets.
On the other hand, it is advantageous for them to have a low wing load because they often double their weight in blood after a large blood meal, and they need to be able to lift themselves off the ground (McClearn pers com).
Also, bats are a very important seed disperser and pollinator, so it is important to understand their flight patterns and feeding behaviors because the bats in an area can have a great effect of the flora in that area.
The Phyllostomidae (leaf-nosed bats) is characterized by a flap of skin extending above the nostrils and horseshoe shaped flab below the nostrils, among the family there is a wide variation in size and morphological adaptations (LaVal and Rodríguez 2002).
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