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Spectral bat
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==Description== {{multiple image |align=right | direction=vertical | header=Comparison of spectral bat (top) and [[jackal]] skulls (not to scale) | image1=Vampyrum spectrum skull.jpg | image2=Canis mesomelas 02 MWNH 103d.JPG }} The spectral bat is the largest bat species native to the [[New World]] and the largest carnivorous bat in the world.<ref name="Nuwer 2016">{{cite web| url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/worlds-carnivorous-bats-are-emerging-dark-180959042/| title=The World's Carnivorous Bats Are Emerging From the Dark| last=Nuwer| first=Rachel| author-link=Rachel Nuwer| date=10 May 2016| website=Smithsonian.com| publisher=Smithsonian Institution| access-date=17 July 2017}}</ref> The wingspan typically ranges from {{convert|0.7-1.0|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Navarro 1982"/> Its forearm length is {{cvt|101-110|mm|in}}.<ref name="Gardner 2008">{{cite book| last=Gardner| first=A. L.| year=2008| publisher=University of Chicago Press| volume=1| title=Mammals of South America, Volume 1: Marsupials, Xenarthrans, Shrews, and Bats|pages=299–300| isbn=978-0226282428| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dbU3d7EUCm8C}}</ref> Its body length is {{convert|135–147|mm|in|abbr=on}} and its mass is {{convert|134-189|g|oz|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Simmons 1998">{{cite journal| last1=Simmons| first1= N. B.| last2= Voss| first2= R. S.| year=1998| title= The mammals of Paracou, French Guiana, a Neotropical lowland rainforest fauna. Part 1, Bats| journal= Bulletin of the AMNH| issue=237| hdl= 2246/1634}}</ref><ref name="Silva 2011"/> Its wings, though large in an absolute sense, are short relative to its body size. The wings are wide, though, creating a large surface area. Its wingtips are rounded and almost squarish.<ref name="Marinello 2014"/> The thumbs are long, at {{cvt|21.4-22.2|mm|in}}.<ref name="Silva 2011">{{cite journal|last1=da Silva| first1= A. P.| last2= Rossi| first2= R. V.| year= 2011| title= New records of ''Vampyrum spectrum'' (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) for the Pantanal domain in Brazil, with notes on the species natural history, biometry, and lower incisors arrangement| journal= Chiroptera Neotropical| volume= 17| issue=1| pages= 836–841}}</ref> Each of its thumbs has a large, recurved claw that is grooved, similar to those of [[felidae|cats]].<ref name="Navarro 1982"/> Its back fur is reddish-brown, long, and soft, while its belly fur is shorter and paler. The forearm is furred on the half closer to the body, but naked on the half closer to the wrist and fingers.<ref name="Navarro 1982"/> Its [[molar (tooth)|molars]] are narrow with W-shaped crests. While six of its molars have [[Molar (tooth)#Tribosphenic|three cusps]], as in many mammal species, the last upper molars are reduced to two cusps; they are much smaller than the other molars.<ref name="Navarro 1982"/> The [[talonid]]s (crushing surfaces) of the molars are small relative to their [[trigonid]]s (shearing surfaces).<ref name="Freeman 1984">{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.1984.tb01601.x|title=Functional cranial analysis of large animalivorous bats (Microchiroptera)|journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=21|issue=4|pages=387–408|year=1984|last1=Freeman|first1=Patricia W|s2cid=37499533 |url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=museummammalogy|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The upper [[canine tooth|canine teeth]] are well-developed. Its [[dentition#Dental formula|dental formula]] is {{DentalFormula|upper=2.1.2.3|lower=2.1.3.3}} for a total of 34 teeth. Its skull is narrow and elongated with a pronounced [[sagittal crest]].<ref name="Navarro 1982">{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/3503798| url=http://www.bio-nica.info/Mammalia/Vampirum_spectrum.pdf| jstor=3503798| title=''Vampyrum spectrum''| journal=Mammalian Species| issue=184| pages=1–4| year=1982| last1=L.| first1=Daniel Navarro| last2=Wilson| first2=Don E}}</ref> Overall, its skull resembles a miniature [[canidae|canid]] or [[ursidae|bear]] skull.<ref name="Sharlene 2016">{{cite journal|doi=10.1098/rspb.2016.0615|pmid=27170718|pmc=4874722|title=Go big or go fish: Morphological specializations in carnivorous bats|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=283|issue=1830|pages=20160615|year=2016|last1=Santana|first1=Sharlene E|last2=Cheung|first2=Elena}}</ref> Its [[nose-leaf]] is large, at {{cvt|17|mm|in}} in length.<ref name="Navarro 1982"/> There is no discernible tail,<ref name="Brittanica">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/animal/false-vampire-bat|author=((The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica))|title=False vampire bat|website=Encyclopaedia Britannica|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|access-date=9 August 2018}}</ref> but the [[interfemoral membrane|uropatagium]] (tail membrane) is long and broad.<ref name="Ceballos 2014">{{cite book| editor-last=Ceballos| editor1-first= G.| last1=Medellín| first1=R.| year=2014| title=Mammals of Mexico| publisher= JHU Press| isbn=978-1421408439| pages=694–696}}</ref> Its legs are long, and the feet are composed of slender bones; each digit has a well-developed claw. The ears are large and rounded, at {{cvt|39-42|mm|in}} long.<ref name="Navarro 1982"/> The brain is large relative to the body; at 1:67, its [[brain-to-body mass ratio]] is higher than that of cats and dogs.<ref name="Bhatnagar 2016">{{cite journal|doi=10.1002/ar.23321|pmid=26800031|title=The Chiropteran Brain Database: Volumetric Survey of the Hypophysis in 165 Species|journal=The Anatomical Record|volume=299|issue=4|pages=492–510|year=2016|last1=Bhatnagar|first1=Kunwar P|last2=Smith|first2=Timothy D|last3=Rai|first3=Shesh N|last4=Frahm|first4=Heiko D|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="brain size">{{cite web| url=http://serendipstudio.org/exchange/brains/intelligence/size| title=Measuring Brain Size versus Body Size|website=Serendip Studio| publisher=Serendip| access-date=24 July 2018}}</ref> The [[cerebral hemisphere]]s of the brain are extensively convoluted.<ref name="McDaniel 1976"/> The brain has well-developed [[olfactory bulb]]s and its [[cerebellum]] is the most ornamented and complex of any member of its subfamily. McDaniel described its [[corpus callosum]] and [[white matter]] as "exceptionally thick".<ref name="McDaniel 1976">{{cite book|last1=McDaniel| first1= V. R.| year=1976| chapter= Brain anatomy| title= Biology of bats of the New World family Phyllostomatidae Part I| editor1-first= R. J.| editor1-last= Baker| editor2-first= JK| editor2-last= Jones Jr.| editor3-first= DC| editor3-last= Carter| publisher= Special Publications of the Museum, Texas Tech University| volume= 10| issue=1| pages= 147–200| chapter-url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/55008908}}</ref>
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