#natalidae

[all-mammal-creechur]

Trinidadian Funnel-eared Bat Natalus tumidirostris

A bat found in northern South America as well as in the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, Margarita, Curaçao and Bonaire. The species feeds on insects, mostly moths and flies. It roosts in the dark recesses of humid caves, where they hang singly or in groups of well-separated individuals

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[chiiroptereh]

A couple bats to wrap up the year. There was gonna be more but, just my luck, my tablet's pen is malfunctioning real bad and I'm on the other side of the globe in New Zealand right now. Oh, well; expect more when that's taken care of!

Nerdy stuff under the cut. Happy holidays, everybody!

In terms of chiropteran diversity they may not be the most dramatic examples, but these species are in separate classifications entirely. The left is an eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis, though I did take some liberties with the colors) in the Vespertillionidae family and the right being some indiscriminate funnel-eared bat (specifically a Natalus sp.) from Natalidae. It is worth noting that both families are in the same superfamily, though, but pff, that's not even a real word.

It's no secret that I love my lasiurine bats (though I really broke the mould this time with a L. borealis instead of L. cinereus, woah gotta slow down there) so she was my first on the sheet. I'm already pretty adept in terms of lasiurine anatomy so she was more of a shading test which I'm rather happy with! They're so whiskery 🥺

At first the second bust was supposed to be of a generic Myotis species, but I thought that might be a bit boring (not that I don't love them too of course but my sketchbooks are full of them) so I went with a different pointy-faced little fella. Or, well, I think my thought process was more like "what's another species that when its mouth is open just looks like :V" but same deal. Funnel-eared bats are a very small family and you can tell they aren't very far-removed from vesper bats, but it's their subtler differences that interested me. They have these really funny moustaches, b-shaped skulls and almost woollen fur. They're also a more traditionally "ugly" species and that especially made me want to showcase how lovely they are.

I do wonder if the eyes are maybe a little uncanny, though. I intended for anthros of species without visible scleras to remain partially faithful to that and have enlarged irises/pupils but I dunno, looks kind of cartoony here, haha. Oh well, still plenty of room to experiment!

I'm very happy with these! The difference in fur texture especially was something I didn't think I'd be able to pull off, but I think I nailed it (without references, too! Booyah!). I hope to bring you guys some more underappreciated species as well as showcases of diversity soon; there are so, so many bats out there to love and they're all so different. Much love, hope you enjoy!

[abataday]

Mexican Funnel-Eared Bat (Natalus stramineus)

Boy, this is a weird bat. Like, there are bats out there with big flashy appendages that look weirder at first glance, but the Mexican funnel-eared bat is the type of creature that gets subtly weirder the longer you look at it. Also, it reminds me a lot of Dr. Finkelstein from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

First things first: despite the common name, this bat does not live in Mexico. It is endemic to the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean instead. Second, it’s a damned shame that another group of bats got to be called “mustached bats,” because these guys fit the title much better. Look at that fine fringe!

I did a portrait to show those odd facial features, but the bodies of funnel-eared bats have some oddities as well. They have long, thin legs and an even longer tail- composed of elongated vertebrae- that is completely enclosed in the uropatagium. It gives them a very "third wing on the butt” look. Their calcars- the unique bones bats have sticking out of their ankles- are almost as long as their legs in order to support this absurdly long membrane.

Funnel-eared bats also have a mysterious organ called the natalid organ in the middle of their forehead, buried on the fur. I say mysterious because nobody knows what it’s for. It seems sensitive to touch and may secrete something, but nobody’s probed it further. Is it for scent marking? Bonking heads in the dark? Psychic powers? Nobody knows!

Finally, I could have drawn the bat looking directly at the viewer for a better view of those funnel-shaped ears, but then people probably wouldn’t have believed it was a real animal and not a poorly-made sock puppet.

[all-mammal-creechur]

Cuban Greater Funnel-eared Bat Natalus primus

The bat lives only in one cave on Isla de la Juventud, Cuba. It was first described as a fossil species before live bats were discovered in 1992.

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[adamantinetower]

Happy birthday! :D

thank you :D

[adamantinetower]

natalidae replied to your photo “they were showing the video of the farmer playing his trombone to his...”

they played this on fox news earlier this afternoon :'D

idk why they would do that but i'm so glad they did

[azzanadra]

((*crawls out of corner and wraps blanket around you and gives you hot cocoa and some cookies* fwaah i hope you get better soon, friend! being sick is never fun ;w;))

((omg no where did this come from *flop* you're so kind ;; thank you!!))