Great fruit-eating bat explained

The great fruit-eating bat (Artibeus lituratus) is a bat species found from Mexico to Brazil and Argentina, as well as in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.

Description

They weigh at birth and grow to as adults.^[1] The heart of A. lituratus contains unique membranous structures not seen in any other mammal. The functions of these differences are still being studied, but may possibly aid in keeping the heart in the correct position while upside down, flight assistance, and energy reservation.^[2]

Threats

Reproductive damage within A. lituratus has been linked with the insecticide deltamethrin.^[3]

Notes and References

1. http://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Artibeus_lituratus Longevity, ageing, and life history of Artibeus lituratus
2. Alves . Júlia Guimarães Mendes . Freitas . Mariella Bontempo . Cruz . Jader S. . Paglia . Adriano . 2022-07-06 . The heart of a flying mammal: shared and unique features of the cardiac anatomy of the great fruit-eating bat Artibeus lituratus . Brazilian Journal of Mammalogy . en . 91 . e91202246 . 10.32673/bjm.vi91.46 . 2764-0590. free .
3. Oliveira . Jerusa Maria de . Lima . Graziela Domingues de Almeida . Destro . Ana Luiza Fonseca . Condessa . Suellen . Zuanon . Jener Alexandre Sampaio . Freitas . Mariella Bontempo . Oliveira . Leandro Licursi de . 2021-09-01 . Short-term intake of deltamethrin-contaminated fruit, even at low concentrations, induces testicular damage in fruit-eating bats (Artibeus lituratus) . Chemosphere . en . 278 . 130423 . 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130423 . 33819891 . 2021Chmsp.27830423O . 0045-6535.