Carollia is a genus of bats often referred to as the short-tailed fruit bats. Along with the genus Rhinophylla, Carollia makes up the subfamily Carolliinae of family Phyllostomidae, the leaf-nosed bats.[1] Currently, nine species of Carollia are recognized, with a number having been described since 2002. Members of this genus are found throughout tropical regions of Central and South America but do not occur on Caribbean islands other than Trinidad and Tobago. Bats of the genus Carollia often are among the most abundant mammals in neotropical ecosystems and play important roles as seed dispersers, particularly of pioneer plants such as those of the genera Piper, Cecropia, Solanum, and Vismia. Carollia are primarily frugivorous; however, C. perspicillata, C. castanea, and C. subrufa are known to feed on insects.[2]

Carollia
Silky short-tailed bat (Carollia brevicauda)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Phyllostomidae
Subfamily: Carolliinae
Genus: Carollia
Gray, 1838
Type species
Carollia braziliensis
Gray, 1838
Species

Carollia benkeithi
Carollia brevicauda
Carollia castanea
Carollia colombiana
Carollia manu
Carollia monohernandezi
Carollia perspicillata
Carollia sowelli
Carollia subrufa
...

Genus Carollia – short-tailed leaf-nosed bats

Vocal Diversity

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There is evidence that there are distinct differences in vocal behaviour during physical interference interactions at the perch between sympatrically living, closely related species of Carollia.[3] This diversity of vocal behaviour may arise from different ecological pressures during allopatric speciation, and may also be an indicator of differences in species social organisation.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ Gardner, Alfred L. (2007), Mammals of South America: Marsupials, Xenarthrans, Shrews, and Bats, p. 211
  3. ^ a b Bosia, Tania; Villalobos, Federico; Schmidt, Sabine (2022). "Evidence for vocal diversity during physical interference at the perch in sympatric Carollia species (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae): a key to social organization and species coexistence?". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 194 (2): 457–477. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab040.