Blyth's horseshoe bat

Blyth's horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus lepidus) is a species of bat in the family Rhinolophidae. It is found across southern Asia from Afghanistan to Vietnam. The species can be identified from its pointed, bifid sella.

Blyth's horseshoe bat
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Rhinolophidae
Genus: Rhinolophus
Species:
R. lepidus
Binomial name
Rhinolophus lepidus
Blyth, 1844
Blyth's Horseshoe Bat range

Taxonomy

Blyth's horseshoe bat was described as a new species in 1844 by English zoologist Edward Blyth. Blyth noted that the holotype had likely been collected near Kolkata, India.[2]

Description

Individuals have a forearm length of around 42 mm (1.7 in).[3]

Biology and ecology

The Blyth's horseshoe bat population on Tioman Island, Malaysia, is known to fly and hunt in the forest during the day and night.It is thought that these bats can forage during the day owing to the absence of resident avian predators in the forest there.[4] It uses echolocation to navigate, flying in a fluttering style through cluttered airspace in search of insect prey. Its echolocation signal frequency is around 91 kHz.[3]

Range and habitat

Blyth's horseshoe bat is widely distributed in South and Southeast Asia, and has been documented in the following countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is found at a range of elevations from 0–2,338 m (0–7,671 ft) above sea level.[1]

References
  1. Srinivasulu, B.; Csorba, G.; Srinivasulu, C. (2019). "Rhinolophus lepidus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T19547A21977419.
  2. Blyth, Edward (1844). "Notices of various Mammalia, with descriptions of many new species". The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 13: 486–487.
  3. Shi, Li-min; Feng, Jiang; Liu, Ying; Ye, Gen-Xian; Zhu, Xu (2009). "Is food resource partitioning responsible for deviation of echolocation call frequencies from allometry in Rhinolophus macrotis?". Acta Theriologica. 54 (4): 371–382. doi:10.4098/j.at.0001-7051.099.2008. S2CID 31515108.
  4. Chua, M.A.H.; Aziz, S.A. (2018). "Into the light: atypical diurnal foraging activity of Blyth's horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus lepidus (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) on Tioman Island, Malaysia". Mammalia. 83: 78–83. doi:10.1515/mammalia-2017-0128.
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