A couple of interesting points regarding the previous posts:
It should be considered that prior to contemporary human beings invading the Texas coastal plains and constructing buildings and bridges there was probably very little suitable habitat for large colonies of Mexican Freetail bats. Hollow trees and the like could have provided a living space for small groups but there were (and still are) no caves or others such natural shelters--and even hollow trees got scarce the farther south one went. I'm wondering to what extent these guys hung out in the open trees in the warmer South Texas environment. Human intervention has provided the opportunity for large numbers of bats to thrive closer to their feeding grounds--or feeding skies. Not having to fly all the way from the Hill Country each evening could be making them fat and lazy. How the bugs actually feel about this change in conditions is a matter still open to discussion.
The upper reaches of most high mountains and mountain ranges in the world are igneous in origin and contain few solution caves. One thing most people don't realize is that the Himalayas are comprised largely of limestone and other sedimentary rocks, shoved from near sea level up to 25,000 feet by the collision of the fast moving India Plate into the sedimentary southern fringes of the Eurasian Plate. The caves up there are developed predominately in limestone, though they are in no way suitable for proper T-shirt and cut-offs Mexican-style caving.
And while on that subject and your finger upon that page in the Atlas, it should be noted that Eastern Siberia, including the Kamchatka Peninsula, is located on the North American Plate. Scarey business, I say.
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