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We report feeding behaviour, dates of peak reproduction, and sexual size dimorphism of the fishing bat, Noctilio leporinus, in the Gulf of Mexico. For the first time we document the size of cheek pouches in N. leporinus and fish species consumed in the water bodies of southern Mexico and analyse differences in wing morphology and biomechanical flight descriptors between the sexes. We found sexual dimorphism in size for most of the external measurements but not in wing characters. This species can consume prey up to a third of its size. We confirmed the presence of N. leporinus in localities in Tabasco, Mexico 60 years after the first report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anatomy and histology of the tongue of Noctilio leporinus, a mainly piscivorous bat, were studied to search for any special character which could be associated to this feeding type. The surface of the tongue has three kinds of papillae: filiform, fungiform and circumvallate. At the histological level, only the two last ones have taste buds. The circumvallate are connected to the Von Ebner serous glands. There is a medial vertical septum at the center of the tongue. At both sides of it there are pairs of veins, arteries, and nervous fibers. Among muscular fibers there are mucous glands in the ventral side. At the distal portion of the tongue, there is a pair of tonsils with inmunological function, each one surrounded by a large mucous gland which can be seen at naked eye. The tonsils and the large mucous glands are the only specialized structures founded in the tongue of N. leporinus, which could be associated to the piscivorous feeding type. This is the first record of these structures in Chiroptera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]