Acoustic Identification bats of Antigua and Barbuda

Family

Phyllostomidae

Scientific name

Ardops nichollsi (Thomas, 1891)

Taxonomy follows Simmons and Cirranello (2022)

Call shape

Calls of Ardnic are very steep broad band high frequency FM decreasing pulses with the TBC (interpulse time) very short.

This Phyllostomidae sub-family (and most other Phyllostomidae species) exclusively use call type 9 – a multiharmonic, high bandwidth, short duration call with the majority of the energy in the second or third harmonic Collen (2012). 

See notes for additional details

Vocal signature parameters

Parameters   N Min Max Mean St.Dev 10% 25% 75% 90%
Dur 17 0.2 3.9 1.5 1.3 0.4 0.7 2.6 3.6
TBC 17 1.7 53.2 25.5 19.7 1.7 15.2 42.0 53.0
Fmin 17 40.0 53.0 45.7 4.0 40.6 42.1 48.5 49.8
Fmax 17 56.3 108.1 91.1 12.7 78.1 88.9 100.0 105.0
BW 17 14.7 63.9 45.4 12.4 29.4 42.1 51.8 57.4
Fmean 17 49.4 80.3 65.5 8.0 55.8 62.4 68.5 75.9
Fk 17 40.0 105.3 83.2 19.2 52.9 83.3 94.1 104.4
FcH1 17 26.5 50.0 39.7 7.0 28.0 38.1 43.5 48.8
Fc 17 53.0 100.0 79.3 13.9 56.0 76.2 87.0 97.6
FcH3 17 79.5 150.0 119.0 20.9 84.0 114.3 130.4 146.3
Sc 17 -9294.7 3291.0 157.1 2687.4 -921.1 303.9 1348.7 1476.3
Pmc 17 0.0 84.6 16.7 20.3 3.9 9.3 14.5 30.0

 

Predicted valuse suggested by Collen (2012)

Band width (kHz)  Dur (ms) Fc (kHz) Dom slope (kHz/ms) Fmax (kHz) Fmin 9kHz) Peak Frequency (kHz) Total slope (kHz/ms)
59.79 2.39 36.93 14.65 99.42 36.93 72.59 22.09

Source of acoustic data

Michel Barataud kindly provided the original call file in WAV format.

See Barataud et al., 2015.

Known distribution

  • Antigua
  • Barbuda - possible

    • Conservation status

    Least Concern:

    Davalos and Rodriguez (2019)

    Notes

    Note when displaying short call pulses such as Phyllostomids make sure setting in the Kaleidoscope Signal Params tab is set for a minimum pulses to = 0.5, otherwise not all pulses will display.

    While echolocation calls of species in the family Phyllostomidae can be recorded, they are considered "Whispering bats" and therefore are very quiet. They rely on sight, smell and sound to detect prey/food. Generally, they do not use echolocation until they are close to food items (Kalko pers. Com.).

    It is not yet possible to distinguish between free flying species of  Phyllostomidae as the multiple harmonics and broadband FM calls are extremely similar within genera throughout their range. 

    Citations

    Barataud, M., S. Giosa, F. Leblanc, P. Favre, and J.-F. Desmet. 2015. Sonar signals and acoustic ecology of bats from Guadeloupe and Martinique islands (West Indies). Vespère. 5: 297-332.

     

    Collen, A. 2012.The evolution of echolocation in bats: a comparative approach. PhD. Pp. 1-432, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London.

     

    Davalos, L. & Rodriguez Duran, A. 2019. Ardops nichollsi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T2089A21994786.

     

    Lindsay, K. C., G. G. Kwiecinski, S. C. Pedersen, J.-P. Bacle, and H. H. Genoways. 2010. First record of Ardops nichollsi from Antigua, Lesser Antilles. Mammalia. 74: 93-95.

     

    Lindsay, K., G. Kwiecinski, J.-P. Bacle, A. Thibou, and C. Wallace. 2017. Bats of Antigua and Barbuda their importance and conservation. Federation Family Publishing House, St. George's, Antigua.

     

    Simmons, N. B., and A. L. Cirranello. 2022.. Bat Species of the World: A taxonomic and geographic database. www.batnames.org

     

    Acoustic Identification bats of Antigua and Barbuda2022, all rights reserved.