The Structure of Tropical Bat Faunas

The species that constitute a tropical bat fauna partition the food available in an environment in an orderly manner, the two most important parameters of partitioning being the type of food and food particle size. On small Caribbean islands there seems to be a f undamental partitioning of food that includes one fruit bat, two nectar bats, two insect bats, and one fishing bat; other food habits, such as blood and meat, are not generally present because of the apparent absence of these foods in sufficient quantities. Mainland tropical bat faunas are similarly structured in terms of food type and size, but it is not possible to make a complete analysis due to the many r are species, whose habits are generally unknown.