Rhinolophidae edit
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Horseshoe bat

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Horseshoe Bats
Great Horse-Shoe Bat
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Rhinolophidae
Gray, 1825
Subfamilies

Hipposiderinae
Rhinolophinae

Horseshoe bats (the Rhinolophidae family) are a large family of bats including approximately 130 species grouped into ten genera. They either belong to the suborder Microchiroptera (microbats) or the Yinpterochiroptera.

Contents

Appearance

All rhinolophids have leaf-like protuberances on their noses. In rhinolophines species, these take the shape of a horseshoe; in hipposiderine, they are leaf- or spear-like. They emit echolocation calls through these structures, which may serve to focus the sound. Their hind limbs are not well developed, so that they cannot walk on all fours; conversely, their wings are broad, making their flight particularly agile. Most rhinolophids are dull brown or reddish brown in color. They vary in size from 2.5 cm to 14 cm in head-body length, and 4 to 120 grams in weight.1 Their dental formula is Upper: 1.1.1-2.3, lower: 2.1.2-3.3.

Ecology

Rhinolophids inhabit temperate and tropical regions of southern Europe, Africa, and Asia south to northern and eastern Australia, including many Pacific islands. All species are insectivorous, capturing insects in flight. Their roost habits are diverse; some species are found in large colonies in caves, some prefer hollow trees, and others sleep in the open, among the branches of trees. Members of northern populations may hibernate during the winter, while a few are known to aestivate; at least one species is migratory. Like many Vespertilionidae bats, females of some rhinolophid species mate during the fall and store the sperm over the winter, conceiving and gestating young beginning in the spring.

Classification

The Rhinolophidae family is usually divided into two subfamilies, the Rhinolophinae (horse-shoe bats) and Hipposiderinae (Old World leaf-nosed bats). Although there is little question that these two groups of bats are closely related, the leaf-nosed bats are sometimes raised to the status of a full family, the Hipposideridae, alongside the Rhinlophidae. Many species are extremely difficult to distinguish.

FAMILY RHINOLOPHIDAE

However with the recent evidence that these bats may in fact not be part of the Microchiroptera, but rather the new group Yinpterochiroptera which includes megabats and two other bat families that are also once consider as part of the Microchiroptera.

Medical significance

Horseshoe bats are the natural zoonotic reservoir of the SARS coronavirus. Bat urine and feces contains numerous virus particles.

References

  1. ^ Macdonald, D., ed (1984). The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File. pp. 805. ISBN 0-87196-871-1.