New Frugivore

Morgan is studying the behavioral neurosciences, which includes learning the incredibly complex ins and outs of bat echolocation and fish electrolocation (that's a fun word to say out loud). Morgan took time out from the coursework to send us a new bat: Sphaeronycteris toxophyllum, the visored bat.

Photo source: Guaquira.com





















The visored bat, so named for the growth over its nose, is a rare bat endemic to northern South America (throughout the Amazon basin and part way up with bordering mountains). It's a frugivore. Frugivore is of Latin derivation and, as everyone knows, means 'one who feasts on human souls.'

...wait...um, Google is telling me something different. Evidently, a frugivore is one whose diet consists mainly of fruit. Still, you need to be afraid. Just stare into those bulging eyes and peek beneath that fleshy flap, and you'll know why. In this second photo the female looks like she's smirking, like she knows something I don't. I hate that.

Photo by Lizette Siles





















Photo by R. M. Barquez
Click on this last photo for a larger view. The side view of the skull looks disturbingly human, if more fangy than normal. It looks a lot like the ultrasounds taken of one of my daughters while in utero... that's more than a little freaky.

Thanks, Morgan. The Amazon just got a bit less hospitable.