Vampyrum spectrum
Authors/Creators
- 1. Department of Life Science, University of Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri 10, 34127 Trieste, Italy
- 2. Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213 / d, 41125 Modena, Italy & PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Bezuidenhoutseweg 30, 2594 AV The Hague, Netherlands
- 3. Asociación Ecológica Paquera, Lepanto y Cóbano, PO Box 25 - 5353, Jicaral, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
- 4. Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213 / d, 41125 Modena, Italy
- 5. Associazione Foreste per Sempre OdV, Via D'Avia Sud 65 / a, 41126 Modena, Italy
- 6. Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213 / d, 41125 Modena, Italy & Associazione Foreste per Sempre OdV, Via D'Avia Sud 65 / a, 41126 Modena, Italy
Description
Vampyrum spectrum (Linnaeus, 1758)
Fig. 5 F Spectral bat
Material examined.
Costa Rica • Puntarenas Province, Karen Mogensen Wildlife Refuge; 09°52'14"N, 085°03'27"W; 296 m alt.; 10.12.2021; mist netting.
Identification.
Very large bat, the biggest in the New World. The upperparts are dark brown to orange-brown, with a pale white line from shoulders to rump; the fur ventrally is greyish. Nose leaf is whitish and cup-shaped. The ears are large and rounded. The tail is absent and the feet and claws are robust and elongated. Normally roosts in family groups in hollow trees. The spectral bat is a predator that feeds on a wide variety of vertebrates, including marsupials, rodents, and several birds. Rare; recorded on a few occasions in the study area. This is one of the most relevant mammals of the Wildlife Refuge from a conservation perspective, as it is considered near threatened worldwide. A female with enlarged nipples was captured during a mist netting session, testifying to the successful reproduction of this species within the Wildlife Refuge or its surrounding areas (Reid and Gόmez Zamora 2022; IUCN 2025).
Notes
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Linked records
Additional details
Identifiers
Biodiversity
- Event date
- 2021-12-10
- Verbatim event date
- 2021-12-10
- Scientific name authorship
- Linnaeus
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Family
- Phyllostomidae
- Genus
- Vampyrum
- Species
- spectrum
- Taxon rank
- species
- Taxonomic concept label
- Vampyrum spectrum (Linnaeus, 1758) sec. Fonda, Vezzani, Aguilar, Venegas-Elizondo, Brenes, Lopez, Romeo, Sonetti & Zotto, 2025
References
- Reid F, Gοmez Zamora G (2022) Pocket Guide to the Mammals of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, New York, 286 pp.
- IUCN (2025) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Ver. 2025-1. https://www.iucnredlist.org [accessed 30 May 2025]