arrowhead vs Coiban Mastuff Bat

Sagittaria sagittifolia compared with Molossus coibensis

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	arrowhead	Coiban Mastuff Bat
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Liliopsida (Monocots)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Alismatales (Alismatales)	Chiroptera (Bats)
Family	Alismataceae	Molossidae
Genus	Sagittaria	Molossus
Species	Sagittaria sagittifolia	Molossus coibensis

Conservation Status

arrowhead

LC — Least Concern

Coiban Mastuff Bat

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	arrowhead	Coiban Mastuff Bat
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

arrowhead

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests within the Oceanian biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (India), Europe (7 countries), North America (Mexico), and Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, Fiji).

Coiban Mastuff Bat

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

arrowhead

The Arrowhead, Sagittaria sagittifolia, is a species. It is currently assessed as least concern on the IUCN Red List. Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests within the Oceanian biogeographic realm.

Coiban Mastuff Bat

The Coiban Mastuff Bat (Molossus coibensis) is a small free-tailed bat in the family Molossidae, named for Coiba Island off the Pacific coast of Panama, where specimens were first collected. Members of the genus Molossus are robust, fast-flying insectivores adapted to open-air foraging above the forest canopy and over water, characterised by narrow wings and a tail that extends beyond the patagium (wing membrane). Molossus coibensis inhabits lowland tropical forests and adjacent open habitats in Central America and northwestern South America, with confirmed records from Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Panama, indicating a distributional range that extends well beyond its type locality on Coiba Island. Like other mastiff bats, it roosts in crevices within buildings, rock faces, and hollow trees, emerging at dusk to pursue aerial insects at speed. The species feeds primarily on large beetles, moths, and other night-flying insects, typically hunted high above the forest. It is assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN based on its relatively wide range and tolerance of modified habitats. Molossus coibensis was long treated as a subspecies of Molossus molossus before being recognised as a distinct species based on morphological and molecular evidence. Ecological and life-history data specific to this taxon remain limited.