Bats: Microchiroptera

Summary: Now that we've talked about Megachiroptera, let's talk about Microchiroptera! Join Kiersten as she talks about the smallest bats.

 

For my hearing impaired followers, a transcript follows the show notes on Podbean.

 

Show Notes:

“Bats in Question: A Smithsonian Answer Book,” by Don E. Wilson

Music written and performed by Katherine Camp

 

Transcript

(Piano music plays)

Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.

(Piano music stops)

 

Kiersten - Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… This is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 

This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.

The third thing I like about bats is Microchiroptera. To be honest I like everything about bats, but I have set a precedent and must follow the pattern of previous series, so third thing it is!

Last episode we talked about the larger bats called Megachiroptera that are found only in the Old World of Asia, Africa, Australia, and some Pacific Islands, so this episode we will talk about the Microchiroptera or smaller bats. These bats are not confined to a specific region in the world. They are found on every continent on the globe except Antarctica, and let’s face it, there is not a lot that wants to leave there full time. 

As a quick refresher, bats are all classified under Class Mammalia, Order Chiroptera, Mega and Micro are separated into suborders, so they are related in the fact that they are all bats, but there are enough differences in physical anatomy, behaviors, and genetics to be separated at a suborder level. Megachiroptera have only one Family Pterpodidae, but Microchiroptera has many families. Currently the classification of bats is still undergoing a bit of a shake up, as all classification is continually evolving, but we recognize 17 families of Microchiroptera with over 900 different species. 

As an example of the ever changing classification system, before I began my graduate work with the Tricolored Bat, it was classified as a pipistrelle with the scientific name of Pipistrellus subflavus, but when I was writing my thesis the scientific name had been changed to Perimyotis subflavus. Their genus had been changed based on research at the time. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed because it’s just more fun to say pipistrelles than perimyotis, but whatcha gonna do?

Okay, I’m going to follow the same pattern I did with the Megachiroptera episode, so these two suborders will be easy for you to compare should you wish to do so. 

Where are Microchiroptera found? They are found on every continent in the world which means they are found in the New and Old world. So those of us that live in the Americas get to pleasure of living with these little darlings. Now, this does not mean that all families of Microchiroptera are found on every continent. There are three families that are shared by both hemispheres Emballonuridae, Molossidae, and Vepertilionidae, but different species of these families will be found on different continents.

What kind of habitats are Microchiroptera found in? They can be found in almost any type of habitat. They are most common in forested area and deserts areas around the world, but some species can be found in grasslands and savannas. They can be found at sea-level and at elevations of 5000 meters above sea-level. They will be found in areas of high rainfall, and areas with scare rainfall. Microchiroptera are extremely diverse mammals. 

What do our smaller bats eat? The majority of micro bats are insectivorous, which means they eat insects. There are