Artibeus jamaicensis
Silhouette: Jorge D. Carballo-Morales, based on a photo by Mario Barroso · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The Jamaican 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 78–89 mm (3.1–3.5 in) with a 96–150 mm (3.8–5.9 in) wingspan and weighing 40 to 60 g (1.4 to 2.1 oz). 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. On the back the fur is an ashy-shade of gray or brown with visible white hair bases and variable fur patterning on the face. The wings of the fruit bat are broad and dark gray in color. The underfur is paler in color. The fruit bat has no external tail. It has broad dark grey wings and a narrow hairless interfemoral membrane with a short calcar. The distinctive features of the Jamaican fruit bat (which however are shared by some of its relatives) include the absence of an external tail and a minimal, U-shaped interfemoral membrane.
A transcriptome dataset is available with more than 25,000 annotated transcripts that are directly searchable by... Wikipedia →
Recording0:10
Mexico · 2019
© Thomas Brooks · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Main Ridge Forest Reserve | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 2 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | Calakmul Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 2 | Guatemala City | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 3 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edmonton Valley Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Vancouver Aquarium | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Montreal Biodome | 🇨🇦 Canada |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat sighting in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 26th most-seen of the 28 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February, May and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in January, March–April and June–November, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
6th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat sightings, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Main Ridge Forest Reserve (Trinidad and Tobago, about 20%), Bastimentos Island National Marine Park (Panama, about 20%) and Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 10%).
Same family: Phyllostomidae
The closest relatives of the Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat that you can see in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (family Phyllostomidae, New World Leaf-nosed Bats) are Vampire Bat (about 10%) and wrinkle-faced bat (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat is recorded against all the mammals logged in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
