Clinging Snakefern vs Golden-capped Fruit Bat

Microgramma heterophylla compared with Acerodon jubatus

Key Differences

Clinging Snakefern is Least Concern while Golden-capped Fruit Bat is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Clinging Snakefern	Golden-capped Fruit Bat
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Tracheophyta	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Polypodiales (Polypodiales)	Chiroptera (Bats)
Family	Polypodiaceae	Pteropodidae (Fruit Bats)
Genus	Microgramma	Acerodon
Species	Microgramma heterophylla	Acerodon jubatus

Conservation Status

Clinging Snakefern

LC — Least Concern

Golden-capped Fruit Bat

EN — Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Clinging Snakefern	Golden-capped Fruit Bat
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Clinging Snakefern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Found in Cuba.

Golden-capped Fruit Bat

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Clinging Snakefern

Clinging Snakefern, Microgramma species, is a genus of small epiphytic ferns in the family Polypodiaceae found in tropical and subtropical forests of the Americas, from Florida and the Caribbean through Central America to South America. The ferns cling tightly to tree bark and rock surfaces using creeping rhizomes with specialized clinging scales, making them true epiphytes that depend entirely on the host surface for physical support while deriving all their water and nutrients from rainfall and atmospheric deposition. The common name 'snakefern' refers to the slender, creeping rhizomes that resemble snakes threading through moss and bark. The fronds are small and simple, either entirely fertile bearing sori on their undersurface or sterile with entire margins. Clinging snakeferns contribute to the high epiphyte diversity of tropical forest canopies and are important components of the moss-and-lichen matrix on tree trunks in humid forests. They are sensitive to moisture availability and desiccation and are among the first species to decline when humid forest is cleared or fragmented. Several Microgramma species are used as ornamental plants in warm-climate gardens for their ability to creep over rocks and tree stumps. Conservation status varies by species within the genus.