The Wrinkle-faced Bat is a species of bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

 in the family Phyllostomidae. It is the only identified member of the genus Centurio. It is found in various countries in and around Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

. It eats fruit but is not classified within the fruit bat

Fruit Bat

Fruit Bat can refer to:* Megabats, a species of bat which eats fruit* Les "Fruitbat" Carter, guitarist of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine* Fruit Bats , an American band...

s. It is classified as a leaf-nosed bat

Leaf-nosed bat

The New World leaf-nosed bats are found throughout Central and South America, from Mexico to northern Argentina. They are ecologically the most varied and diverse family within the order Chiroptera...

 but does not have a leaf nose. It has an unusually shaped skull which is thought to allow the bat to eat a wider range of foods than other bats.

Description

C. senex is tail-less, medium sized and generally has a pelage of a drab brown to yellowish-brown colour. They weigh around 17g. Their face is hairless and is covered by convoluted outgrowths of skin (as would be expected from the common name). These skin flaps are more pronounced in males than females and males also possess a skin mask that can be used to cover their face. They have storage pouches in their mouths to allow them to store fruit. C. senex subsp. greenhalli differs from the more common C. senex subsp. senex by being larger and in having a more domed braincase, better developed sagittal crest

Sagittal crest

A sagittal crest is a ridge of bone running lengthwise along the midline of the top of the skull of many mammalian and reptilian skulls, among others....

, and relatively shorter maxilla

Maxilla

The maxilla is a fusion of two bones along the palatal fissure that form the upper jaw. This is similar to the mandible , which is also a fusion of two halves at the mental symphysis. Sometimes The maxilla (plural: maxillae) is a fusion of two bones along the palatal fissure that form the upper...

ry toothrow. Their skulls are extremely short and wide, which is thought to allow it to produce bite forces up to 20% higher than other bats of a similar size. It is able to generate the largest biting force, relative to its size of any of the leaf-nosed bats.

Diet

The species is entirely frugivorous (fruit eating) although it is not known which types of fruit they consume. Elizabeth Dumont from the University of Massachusetts believes that the strong biting force of the bat allows it to survive through times when soft fruit is scarce as they are able to eat tougher fruit than other bats.

Reproduction

Females are thought to be both polyestrous and asynchronous, pregnant females have been recorded every month between January and August except May. Males emit a musky odour from the chin area to attract females. Their sperm

Sperm

The term sperm is derived from the Greek word sperma and refers to the male reproductive cells. In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell...

 morphology is unique in that the sperm head
has a rounded nucleus

Cell nucleus

In cell biology, the nucleus is a membrane-enclosed organelle found in eukaryotic cells. It contains most of the cell's genetic material, organized as multiple long linear DNA molecules in complex with a large variety of proteins, such as histones, to form chromosomes. The genes within these...

 and extremely pointed acrosome

Acrosome

The acrosome is an organelle that develops over the anterior half of the head in the spermatozoa of many animals. It is a cap-like structure derived from the Golgi apparatus. Acrosome formation is completed during testicular maturation. In Eutherian mammals the acrosome contains digestive enzymes...

.

Range

C. senex subsp. senex is found in Belize

Belize

Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

, El Salvador

El Salvador

El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

, Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

, Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

, Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

 and Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

. C. senex subsp. greenhalli is only found in Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...

.

Etymology

The binomial

Binomial

In algebra, a binomial is a polynomial with two terms —the sum of two monomials—often bound by parenthesis or brackets when operated upon...

name Centurio senex is formed from the Latin centurio meaning division into hundreds and senex referring to old people. This name was chosen as it was thought that the face of the bat looked like that of a one hundred-year-old man.