Little Mariana fruit bat
Encyclopedia
The little Mariana fruit bat (Pteropus tokudae) or Sheath-tail bat, is smaller than the Mariana fruit bat
, measuring 140 to 151 mm, with a wingspan of 650 to 770 mm. The Mariana fruit bat (Piteous marinas) measures 195 to 250 mm from head to rump, with a wingspan of 860 to 1065 mm. The abdomen and wings are brown to dark brown but with few whitish hairs. The mantle and sides of the neck vary from brown to pale gold. The top of the head is grayish to yellowish brown while the throat and chin are dark brown. The last known bat colony was discovered by Charlie Ogo Atalig of Rota as he trod through Tonga Cave.
Both bats are called "fanihi" in Chamoru
, the indigenous language of the Marianas archipelago (Guam
and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
).
forest. Coconut
groves and strand vegetation are other plant communities used occasionally for feeding and roosting. In southern Guam, a few fruit bats still inhabit ravine forests. Farms, savannas, and mangrove
s are habitats that receive little or no use at present but may have been used commonly in the past when bats were more abundant and widespread on the island.
Fruit bat colonies sleep during much of the day, but they perform many other activities as well such as grooming, breeding, and scent rubbing, marking, flying, climbing to other roost spots, and defending roosting territories (harem males only). Bats gradually depart colonies for several hours after sunset to forage.
http://www.guamdawr.org/learningcenter/factsheets/mammals/images/s_tail_bat.jpg
Some bats eat fruit while others eat night flying insects and grasshoppers, and some even eat small animals and minnows. The fruit eating bats (found in tropical climates) are very good for our food crops because they are pollinators and they help spread seeds when they drop the seeds when they eat the fruit. Some of the fruits they pollinate are bananas, mangoes, and guavas. Many trees grow mainly because of the bats. Bats are not blind...and insect eating bats use something called echolocation to help them find the bugs. The echolocation is sounds that the bats make - the sounds are high frequency calls that bounce off of the insects so the bats can quickly find them.
Mariana Fruit Bat
The Mariana Fruit Bat , also known as the Mariana flying fox, and the fanihi in Chamorro is a megabat that is found only on Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Ulithi . Habitat loss has driven it to endangered status and it is listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service...
, measuring 140 to 151 mm, with a wingspan of 650 to 770 mm. The Mariana fruit bat (Piteous marinas) measures 195 to 250 mm from head to rump, with a wingspan of 860 to 1065 mm. The abdomen and wings are brown to dark brown but with few whitish hairs. The mantle and sides of the neck vary from brown to pale gold. The top of the head is grayish to yellowish brown while the throat and chin are dark brown. The last known bat colony was discovered by Charlie Ogo Atalig of Rota as he trod through Tonga Cave.
Both bats are called "fanihi" in Chamoru
Chamorro language
Chamorro is a Malayo-Polynesian language, spoken on the Mariana Islands by about 47,000 people Chamorro (Chamorro: Fino' Chamoru or simply Chamoru) is a Malayo-Polynesian (Austronesian) language, spoken on the Mariana Islands (Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan) by about 47,000 people Chamorro...
, the indigenous language of the Marianas archipelago (Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...
).
Behavior
Mariana fruit bats are found in Guam and CNMI, and move from island to island. In northern Guam, bats primarily forage and roost in native limestoneLimestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
forest. Coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
groves and strand vegetation are other plant communities used occasionally for feeding and roosting. In southern Guam, a few fruit bats still inhabit ravine forests. Farms, savannas, and mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
s are habitats that receive little or no use at present but may have been used commonly in the past when bats were more abundant and widespread on the island.
Fruit bat colonies sleep during much of the day, but they perform many other activities as well such as grooming, breeding, and scent rubbing, marking, flying, climbing to other roost spots, and defending roosting territories (harem males only). Bats gradually depart colonies for several hours after sunset to forage.
http://www.guamdawr.org/learningcenter/factsheets/mammals/images/s_tail_bat.jpg
Nutrition
The fruit bat feeds on a wide variety of plant material but primarily on fruits. It appears that the favored foods include the fruits of breadfruit, papaya, fading, figs, café, and talisman and the flowers of kapok, coconut, and gaga.Some bats eat fruit while others eat night flying insects and grasshoppers, and some even eat small animals and minnows. The fruit eating bats (found in tropical climates) are very good for our food crops because they are pollinators and they help spread seeds when they drop the seeds when they eat the fruit. Some of the fruits they pollinate are bananas, mangoes, and guavas. Many trees grow mainly because of the bats. Bats are not blind...and insect eating bats use something called echolocation to help them find the bugs. The echolocation is sounds that the bats make - the sounds are high frequency calls that bounce off of the insects so the bats can quickly find them.