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Species of bat

The Jamaican, common, or Mexican fruit bat (Artibeus jamaicensis) is a frugivorous bat species native to the Neotropics.

The Jamaican fruit bat is a medium sized bat, having a total length of with a wingspan and weighing It has broad but pointed and ridged ears with a serrated tragus. Its prominent noseleaf has an array of sebaceous glands. The lower lip is littered with warts with a relatively large one in the center. Sebaceous holocrine glands can be found in both lips. The wings of the fruit bat are broad and dark gray in color. A genome assembly has also been generated.

The Jamaican fruit bat ranges from southern Mexico through Central America southward to northwestern South America (in Colombia). It also lives throughout the Caribbean islands of the Greater and Lesser Antilles, as well as the southern Bahamas. The Jamaican fruit bat can be found in elevations from sea level to This species is found in a variety of habitats. It prefers habitats that are humid and tropical but has also adapted to cloud forests and drier tropical habitats. The fruit bat may create its own "tent" to roost in by altering broad leaves. Overall, the fruit bat consumes a diverse amount of plants but locally only eats certain types. Fruit bats have been recorded carrying fruits weighing or even as much as Jamaican fruit bats rely on sight and smell to find fruit of certain colors and odors.

The maximum longevity for the Jamaican fruit bat is nine years in the wild. Predators of fruits bats include owls, snakes, large opossums, and coati. Bats from various sites have been found with Histoplasma capsulatum. Some individual bats may have rabies. Fruit bats also are susceptible to various internal parasites: nematodes and ringworms, and external parasites: mites, ticks and chiggers. That is, males will claim an area as a territory and females select the best territories to roost and mate in. Subadult males may remain in their natal roosts while females may leave to gather with other females elsewhere. In caves where there are enough roosting sites, there is some "female defensive polygyny". Here, harem males actively defend females during the breeding seasons and will attack satellite males that roost in the walls and ceilings of caves. However, they tolerate males who are subordinate to them in their harems. Satellite males are more common in large groups than smaller groups and dominant and subordinate males will cooperate to defend harem females. At dusk, males spend much time flying near the tree roosts displacing any intruders. Jamaican fruit bats are most active at midnight; following that, activity begins to die down. When captured, a Jamaican fruit bat will warn conspecifics with a distress call made of a long series of pulses typically lasting 15 kHz. The Jamaican fruit bat will also react to the distress calls of other species and to their own recorded calls. The testes of the males enlarge when females enter estrous. The testes tend to be slightly larger in harem males than bachelors and the canine teeth tend to be more worn in the former. Copulation occurs until 2–25 days after the previous births. Pups born in a harem may sometimes be sired by satellite or subordinate males depending on the size of the group. Gestation is usually 3.5–4 months but can be as long as 7 months when there's delayed embryonic development. The female gives birth while perching and the newborn emerges unaided, head first. The fruit bat has greater ecological importance in wet habitats. It appears to be common regardless of any habitat disruption. However, it may damage fruit crops in certain areas.