Leaf-nosed bat

The New World leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) are bats (order Chiroptera) found from southern North America to South America, specifically from the Southwest United States to northern Argentina. Both the scientific and common names derive from their often large, lance-shaped noses, though this is greatly reduced in some of the nectar- and pollen-feeders. Because these bats echolocate nasally, this "nose-leaf" is thought to serve some role in modifying and directing the echolocation call. Similar nose leaves are found in some other groups of bats, most notably the Old World leaf-nosed bats.

They are the most ecologically diverse bat family; members of this family have evolved to use food groups as varied as fruit, nectar, pollen, insects, frogs, other bats, and small vertebrates, and in the case of the vampire bats, blood. Most species are insectivorous, but the phyllostomid bats also include true predatory species and frugivores (subfamily Stenodermatinae and Carolliinae). For example, the spectral bat (Vampyrum spectrum), the largest bat in the Americas, eats vertebrate prey, including small, dove-sized birds.