Yucatan Bat Volcano

[Mark Minton]

Here's an interesting video report about a bat cave near the Maya Train: <https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0ljyc5y/mexico-s-hidden-bat-volcano->.

Mark

[Allan Cobb]

On the highway near the cave there are bat crossing signs. 

Allan

Smart phone, stupid autocorrect

On Jul 7, 2025, at 8:20 PM, Mark Minton <mamint...@gmail.com> wrote:



Here's an interesting video report about a bat cave near the Maya Train: <https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0ljyc5y/mexico-s-hidden-bat-volcano->.

Mark

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[William R. Elliott]

Cavetex folks,

Here are some excerpts about Volcán de los Murciélagos from our 2023 book chapter: 

Elliott, W.R., Palacios-Vargas, J.G., Medellín, R.A., Calva, O. (2023). Human Impacts on Mexican Caves. Chap 18, pp 377–414 In: Jones, R.W., Ornelas-García, C.P., Pineda-López, R., Álvarez, F. (eds), 

Mexican Fauna in the Anthropocene, Springer, 597 pp. 

Readers can download this whole chapter at the Cavelife.info website. See https://cavelife.info/reprint/ 

Also see the bat cave distribution maps at that link. 

In the film Dr. Rodrigo Medellín, one of our co-authors, said there were 10 bat species in the cave, increased from 9 species in 2023. [The excerpt below lost its italics in copying to this email. Lo siento mucho.]

p. 404. 18.4.4.1 Volcán de los Murciélagos, Campeche 

Nine bat species inhabit this extensive cave located in the public reserve of Balamkú, in the area of influence of the Reserva de la Biósfera de Calakmul, part of the ecosystem called La Selva Maya. Also called the Calakmul Bat Volcano, the cave is 670 m long and 117 m deep. The entrance is a deep funnel or sinkhole, followed by a steep slope down to about 120 m below the surface, where there is a collapse area and breakdown pile. Another slope down comes to a high chamber, then another slope down to the nearly level bottom of the cave, about 450 m long, ending in a slope up to the ceiling (Rojo and Gheysens 2006; Arroyo-Cabrales et  al. 2011; Vargas-Contreras et al. 2011, 2012). El Volcán had perhaps 800,000–1000,000 bats in the early 2000s (EscalonaSegura et al. 2002, 2019). Bat emergences recorded with a camcorder in 2010–2011 lasted 30–45 min, and with a thermal camera 90 min, which suggests an estimated population over 3 million bats. In an unpublished chapter, Vargas-Contreras et al. (2011) reported that, “We observed cave visitors littering the surroundings. This cave can be used for tourism following some recommendations, establishing visitors’ carrying capacity, and visiting after the reproductive season.” With a total bat diversity of 9 species, including the following trophic groups: insectivorous bats: Mormoops megalophylla, Pteronotus mesoamericanus, P. fulvus, P. psilotis, P. gymnonotus, Natalus mexicanus, Myotis keaysi and Nyctinomops laticaudatus. Nectivorous bats: Glossophaga soricina (Vargas-Contreras pers. comm.). The cave contains some invertebrates: Stenophysa aquatic snails, Mayaweckelia cenoticola amphipods, and Antricola mexicanus soft ticks. Carbon-dioxide concentrations are dangerously high at 3–5%. The cave also harbors Histoplasma capsulatum, the fungal agent of histoplasmosis, a lung disease (Rojo and Gheysens 2006). Only qualified and safely equipped visitors should visit the cave’s interior. A large management plan was published in 2019, analyzing multiple aspects of the ecology and agroeconomy of the cave bats and the surrounding reserve (Escalona-Segura et al. 2019). We have assigned a risk factor of 2.

p. 408.  About 800 obligate cave species are endemic to Mexican caves. The largest concentrations of wild mammals in Mexico are in caves, and the largest bat cave in the Neotropical biogeographic realm, the Volcán de los Murciélagos (Calakmul Bat Volcano), contains over 3 million bats. No other cave in the Neotropics has more bats.

p. 410.  Arroyo-Cabrales J, Medellín RA, Navarro L (2011) Los murciélagos, aspectos generales y los servicios ambientales en la selva. In: Arroyo-Cabrales J, Gonzalez A, Canales D et al (eds) Los murciélagos de Calakmul, guía ilustrada. Cons Veracruz Inv Cien Desarr Tec, México, pp 16–31

p. 412.  Escalona-Segura G, Vargas-Contreras JA, Molina-Rosales DO (eds) (2019) Programa de manejo y conservación de la cueva “El Volcán de los Murciélagos”, Calakmul, Campeche. Colegio Frontera Sur, Unidad Campeche

p. 414.  

Rojo R, Gheysens T (2006) El Volcán de los Murciélagos, Calakmul, Campeche, México. Mund Subterr 17:17–24 

UMAE (Unión Mexicana de Agrupaciones Espeleológicas) (2021), Available at: https://umae.org/ Vargas-Contreras JA, Escalona G, Medellín RA et al (2011) Importancia de las áreas naturales protegidas en Campeche. In: Arroyo-Cabrales J, Gonzalez A, Canales D, et al (eds) Los murciélagos de Calakmul, guía ilustrada. Consejo Veracruzano de Investigación Científca y Desarrollo Tecnológico, pp 32–58  

Buenos dias, 

William R. (Bill) Elliott

30105 Briarcrest Court

Georgetown, Texas 78628

speod...@gmail.com

573-291-5093 cell

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cavetex/AFB4CE6E-EA63-4600-A747-4A4975DEE0EA%40gmail.com.

[Mark Minton]

Bill,

The link <https://umae.org/ Vargas-Contreras> doesn't work for me.

Mark

[William R. Elliott]

I think maybe the publisher, Springer, goofed that link. It does not work for me either. No solution at this time. Sorry.

William R. (Bill) Elliott

30105 Briarcrest Court

Georgetown, Texas 78628

speod...@gmail.com

573-291-5093 cell

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[Diana Tomchick]

Here’s a link to something similar, from Jorge A. Vargas-Contreras about the Conservation of Bats in Campeche.

https://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/therya/v3n1/v3n1a4.pdf

Diana

**************************************************
Diana R. Tomchick
Professor
Departments of Biophysics and Biochemistry
UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214A
Dallas, TX 75390-8816
Diana.T...@UTSouthwestern.edu
(214) 645-6383 (phone)
(214) 645-6353 (fax)

On Jul 8, 2025, at 11:39 AM, William R. Elliott <speod...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[William R. Elliott]

Gracias mi amiga. 

William R. (Bill) Elliott

30105 Briarcrest Court

Georgetown, Texas 78628

speod...@gmail.com

573-291-5093 cell

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cavetex/8148DE36-C090-4D94-921B-FDB2457D4340%40utsouthwestern.edu.