The Marine Bat of Baja California (Myotis vivesi)
by Dr. Brad Blood, Psomas
There are over 1,400 species of bats worldwide. Bats, order Chiroptera, are the only mammals capable of powered flight. Within the order Chiroptera there are numerous feeding specializations including insects, nectar and pollen, blood, leaves, and other animals. There are even bats who specialize in eating spiders off the spider’s web! One of the rarest food preferences found in the Chiroptera is fish-eating. Only two species are known to eat fish regularly: Noctilio leporinus (Noctilionidae) and Myotis vivesi (Vespertilionidae). They represent one of the most interesting examples of convergent evolution in the class Mammalia. Of the two, only Myotis vivesi exploits marine resources. Myotis vivesi lives on islands in Sea of Cotez, coastal Sonora and the Pacific coast of Baja California. It is the only truly marine bat in the order Chiroptera. This lecture will describe the natural history of this unique species and its adaptations to fish (and shrimp)-eating and to the marine environment.
Brad R. Blood is a senior biologist at Psomas and a Research Associate in Mammalogy at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Zoology and Master’s Degree in Biology at California State University Long Beach, and his Ph.D. at the University of Southern California studying under the curator of Mammals at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. His Ph.D. thesis was on the evolution of fish-catching in bats, an ecomorphological study on convergent adaptations to a unique feeding strategy. He has published articles on the mammals of Los Angeles County, allometric growth in coyotes, springhares in Botswana, small mammals in Namibia, bats in southeast Asia, elephant shrews, cotton rats, and the fish-eating myotis (Myotis vivesi). Most recently he has published a Guide to the Terrestrial Mammals of Southern California and the Eastern and Southern Sierra Nevada.
All lectures are at 7pm on select Fridays in the John M. Olguin Auditorium. Live online option available. All lectures are recorded and archived on our website. Reserve your ticket or online spot HERE.
*Photo Credit: B.J. Hayward