Abstract
Bats are mammals of the Order Chiroptera. They are highly adaptable to several habitats and their ecol ogy makes them vulnerable to predators. Bats are a common prey of snakes, but description of this kind of predation are rare. This study describes the event of predation of an Epicrates cenchria on a Desmodus rotundus, in a cave in Tena, Ecuador. Records of Desmodus rotundus are known from caves just as Epicrates cenchria. Castillo Cave has a total mapped length of 450 meters. The phase of constriction lasted for 10 min 2 s, a duration superior than other studies, due to the size of Desmodus rotundus. The terrestrial loco motion behavior of D. rotundus, makes it an easy target for E. cenchria. The predation event occurred on the floor, a rare case, which has not been described in other events of predation in caves. The cave is located in a disturbed habitat, because it is irrigated by wastewaters. But both species seems to be adapted to the environment. This study confirms that predation of bats in caves by snakes does occur.
Highlights
Bats are mammals of the Order Chiroptera
At 4:50 p.m. local time, we observed the catch and recorded most of the predation behavior of a second rainbow boa the Epicrates cenchria on a Desmodus rotundus adult female in the Castillo Cave close to the northern exit of the cave
A D. rotundus flying into the cave in a correspondent low height was caught upfront with its head in E. cenchria’s mouth
Summary
Bats are mammals of the Order Chiroptera They are highly adaptable to several habitats: trees (Jachowski et al 2016), under plantain leaves (Rodríguez-Herrera et al 2011), caves (Zortea et al 2015), human settlements (Whitaker et al 2006, Streicker et al 2013), etc. Like most animals, they are not predator free. Two observations were reported in caves in Mexico where snakes caught bats hanging off the roof (BBC 2014, BBC Earth 2014)
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