Rhinopoma hardwickiilesser mouse-tailed bat

Ge­o­graphic Range

Lesser mouse-tailed bats (Rhinopoma hard­wickii) range from as far east as Thai­land west­ward through Burma, India, Pak­istan, and Iran. They can also be found in the African Sa­hara mostly north of 15°N, but have been known to oc­cupy as far south as Kenya. (Benda, et al., 2010; Benda, et al., 2004a; Qum­siyeh and Knox Jones Jr, 1986)

Habi­tat

Lesser mouse-tailed bats in­habit deserts and semi-deserts where roosts and food are avail­able. Within these cli­mates they are gen­er­ally found in grass­lands and oases (Benda, Aulagnier, and Palmeirim, 2010), but can oc­ca­sion­ally be found in gar­dens and or­chards (Benda et al., 2004). Their roosts con­sist of dry caves, houses, pyra­mids, un­der­ground tun­nels, and wells. In sum­mer months, they roost in small crevices, fis­sures, or be­tween boul­ders (Benda, Aulagnier, and Palmeirim, 2010). (Benda, et al., 2004b; Benda, et al., 2010; Davis, 2007)

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Lesser mouse-tailed bats get their com­mon name from their slen­der, long, free tail. The total body length ranges from 119 to 141 mm and the tail makes up ap­prox­i­mately 57 to 70 mm of that. The hind­foot, ear, and fore­arm length mea­sure 12 to 15 mm, 18 to 21 mm, and 52.4 to 60 mm re­spec­tively. (Qum­siyeh and Knox Jones Jr, 1986)

The skull of lesser mouse-tailed bats are short with 28 teeth and a den­tal for­mula of 1/2, 1/1, 1/2, 3/3. The skull is widest at the squamosal re­gion of the zy­go­matic arch. Other dis­tin­guish­ing fea­tures of the skull in­clude the loose tym­panic bone and an in­flated lacrimal re­gion. (Qum­siyeh and Knox Jones Jr, 1986)

Lesser mouse-tailed bats are small, with tails gen­er­ally longer than their fore­arms. Their backs are grey­ish brown to dark brown in color with pale un­der­sides. The snouts have a small tri­an­gu­lar nose­leaf and their tragi are well de­vel­oped. They have large rhom­boidal pinna that are con­nected across the fore­head and there are 10 trans­verse ridges that cross the ear. The uropatag­ium of lesser mouse-tailed bats are small and only en­close less than one quar­ter of the tail. (Davis, 2007; Qum­siyeh and Knox Jones Jr, 1986)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • sexes alike
  • Range mass
    10 to 12 g
    0.35 to 0.42 oz
  • Range length
    119 to 141 mm
    4.69 to 5.55 in

Re­pro­duc­tion

Lit­tle is known of the mat­ing sys­tems of lesser mouse-tailed bats.

Al­though lit­tle is known about lesser mouse-tailed bat re­pro­duc­tive bi­ol­ogy, they have a de­fined an­nual re­pro­duc­tive cycle. In­sem­i­na­tion oc­curs be­tween Feb­ru­ary and April, al­though ovu­la­tion does not occur until mid-March. Ges­ta­tion lasts about 95 to 100 days and young are born be­tween the sec­ond week of June and the end of July. Lac­ta­tion lasts up to 20 days, dur­ing which time lac­tat­ing fe­males are seg­re­gated from the group. (Karim and Baner­jee, 1989; Karim and Fazil, 1987; Whitaker Jr. and Yom-Tov, 2002)

Male lesser mouse-tailed bats take much longer than fe­males to reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity. Fe­males be­come sex­u­ally ma­ture be­tween 8.5 to 9 months of age, whereas males do not be­come sex­u­ally ma­ture until 16 to 17 months. (Karim and Fazil, 1987)

  • Breeding interval
    Lesser mouse-tailed bats breed annually.
  • Breeding season
    Lesser mouse-tailed bats breed from late February to mid April.
  • Average number of offspring
    1
  • Range gestation period
    95 to 100 days
  • Range weaning age
    20 (high) days
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    8.5 (low) months
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    9 months
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    16 to 17 months

Lit­tle is known about the parental in­vest­ment of lesser mouse-tailed bats.

  • Parental Investment
  • altricial
  • pre-hatching/birth
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-weaning/fledging
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Lit­tle is known of the lifes­pan and longevity of lesser mouse-tailed bats.

Be­hav­ior

Lesser mouse-tailed bats are ac­tive year round and use stored ab­dom­i­nal fats dur­ing the win­ter (Whitaker Jr. and Yom-Tov, 2002). Lesser mouse-tailed bats are adapted to with­stand ex­tremely hot, arid con­di­tions as well as low hu­mid­ity (Davis, 2007). (Davis, 2007; Whitaker Jr. and Yom-Tov, 2002)

Lesser mouse-tailed bats have been found roost­ing in small groups rang­ing from 4 to 10 in­di­vid­u­als (Davis, 2007) to large colonies com­posed of up to 500 in­di­vid­u­als (Benda, Aulagnier, and Palmeirim, 2010). Sex­ual seg­re­ga­tion may occur and is gen­er­ally di­rected to­wards lac­tat­ing fe­males (Karim and Fazil, 1987). (Benda, et al., 2010; Davis, 2007; Karim and Fazil, 1987)

Lesser mouse-tailed bat flight pat­terns con­sist of al­ter­nat­ing flut­ters and glides. This gives the ap­pear­ance that they are ris­ing and falling, so that from a dis­tance, they may be mis­taken for a small bird (Whitaker Jr. and Yom-Tov, 2002). (Whitaker Jr. and Yom-Tov, 2002)

Home Range

Lit­tle is known about the rang­ing be­hav­ior of lesser mouse-tailed bats.

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Lesser mouse-tailed bats are con­sid­ered to be "acousti­cally prim­i­tive" be­cause they use sig­nals with four or more har­mon­ics and with lit­tle fre­quency vari­a­tion (Whitaker Jr. and Yom-Tov, 2002). They emit long con­stant fre­quency (CF) calls at 30 to 34 kHz with a peak en­ergy at 32 kHz (Davis, 2007). They emit these CF sounds when fly­ing in open spaces for ap­prox­i­mately 48 ms. When they fly in groups, lesser mouse-tailed bats emit CFs in three bands. How­ever, when they fly solo the bat emits CFs in only one band. Fre­quency mod­u­lated (FM) sounds are pro­duced only as they leave their roost or shortly be­fore land­ing (Whitaker Jr. and Yom-Tov, 2002). (Davis, 2007; Whitaker Jr. and Yom-Tov, 2002)

Food Habits

Lesser mouse-tailed bars are in­sec­tiv­o­rous bats with bee­tles mak­ing up about 50% of their diet. They also feed on moths and neu­ropter­ans, but their over­all diet is much less di­verse than other bats (Whitaker Jr. and Yom-Tov, 2002). Lesser mouse-tailed bats swoop and glide at 5 to 10 me­ters off the ground when in search of food (Davis, 2007). (Davis, 2007; Whitaker Jr. and Yom-Tov, 2002)

  • Animal Foods
  • insects

Pre­da­tion

Barn owls are the only known preda­tor of lesser moused-tailed bats.

  • Anti-predator Adaptations
  • cryptic

Ecosys­tem Roles

Lit­tle is known of the ecosys­tem roles that lesser mouse-tailed bats play.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

There are no known pos­i­tive ef­fects of lesser mouse-tailed bats on hu­mans. How­ever, since they are in­sec­ti­vores, they may help con­trol the pop­u­la­tion of in­sect pests.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

There are no known neg­a­tive im­pacts of lesser mouse-tailed bats on hu­mans.

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Pop­u­la­tions of Rhinopoma hard­wickii are com­mon and wide­spread with no major threats of de­cline. In 1996 it was cat­e­go­rized as vul­ner­a­ble, but was changed to least con­cern in 2004, and has sus­tained the same cat­e­go­riza­tion ever since. (Benda, et al., 2010)

Con­trib­u­tors

Tara Whit­ing (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Wis­con­sin-Stevens Point, Christo­pher Yahnke (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Wis­con­sin-Stevens Point, Ale­cia Stew­art-Mal­one (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Wis­con­sin-Stevens Point, Laura Podzikowski (ed­i­tor), Spe­cial Pro­jects.

Glossary

Ethiopian

living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees north) and Madagascar.

World Map

Palearctic

living in the northern part of the Old World. In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa.

World Map

acoustic

uses sound to communicate

agricultural

living in landscapes dominated by human agriculture.

altricial

young are born in a relatively underdeveloped state; they are unable to feed or care for themselves or locomote independently for a period of time after birth/hatching. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

colonial

used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.

cryptic

having markings, coloration, shapes, or other features that cause an animal to be camouflaged in its natural environment; being difficult to see or otherwise detect.

delayed fertilization

a substantial delay (longer than the minimum time required for sperm to travel to the egg) takes place between copulation and fertilization, used to describe female sperm storage.

desert or dunes

in deserts low (less than 30 cm per year) and unpredictable rainfall results in landscapes dominated by plants and animals adapted to aridity. Vegetation is typically sparse, though spectacular blooms may occur following rain. Deserts can be cold or warm and daily temperates typically fluctuate. In dune areas vegetation is also sparse and conditions are dry. This is because sand does not hold water well so little is available to plants. In dunes near seas and oceans this is compounded by the influence of salt in the air and soil. Salt limits the ability of plants to take up water through their roots.

echolocation

The process by which an animal locates itself with respect to other animals and objects by emitting sound waves and sensing the pattern of the reflected sound waves.

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

insectivore

An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nocturnal

active during the night

oriental

found in the oriental region of the world. In other words, India and southeast Asia.

World Map

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

social

associates with others of its species; forms social groups.

tactile

uses touch to communicate

terrestrial

Living on the ground.

tropical

the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

viviparous

reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.

Ref­er­ences

Benda, P., S. Aulagnier, J. Palmeirim. 2010. "Rhinopoma hard­wickii" (On-line). IUCN Red List of Threat­ened Species. Ac­cessed Au­gust 12, 2011 at http://​www.​iucnredlist.​org/​apps/​redlist/​details/​19599/​0.

Benda, P., V. Hanák, M. An­dreas, A. Re­iter, M. Uhrin. 2004. Two new species of bats (Chi­roptera) for the fauna of Libya: Rhinopoma hard­wickii and Pip­istrel­lus ruep­pel­lii. MY­OTIS, 41-42: 109-124. Ac­cessed Au­gust 12, 2011 at http://​www.​nm.​cz/​download/​pm/​zoo/​benda_​lit/​Benda2004myotis.​pdf.

Benda, P., M. Ruedi, S. Aulagnier. 2004. New data on the dis­tri­b­u­tion of bats (Chi­roptera) in Mo­rocco. Ves­per­tilio, 8: 13–44. Ac­cessed Au­gust 12, 2011 at http://​www.​nm.​cz/​download/​pm/​zoo/​benda_​lit/​Benda2004vesp_​a.​pdf.

Davis, L. 2007. "An In­tro­duc­tion to the Bats of United Arab Emi­rates" (On-line pdf). Ac­cessed Au­gust 12, 2011 at http://​www.​echoesecology.​co.​uk/​documents/​BatsoftheUAE_​000.​pdf.

Karim, K., M. Fazil. 1987. Early em­bry­onic de­vel­op­ment and preim­plan­ta­tion changes in the uterus of the bat Rhinopoma hard­wickei hard­wickei (Gray) (Rhinopo­mati­dae). Amer­i­can Jour­nal of Anatomy, 178: 341–351.

Karim, K., S. Baner­jee. 1989. Re­pro­duc­tion in the In­dian mouse-tailed bat, Rhinopoma hard­wickei hard­wickei (Chi­roptera, Rhinopo­mati­dae). Re­pro­duc­tion, Fer­til­ity and De­vel­op­ment, 1: 255–264.

Qum­siyeh, M., J. Knox Jones Jr. 1986. Rhinopoma hard­wickii and Rhinopoma mus­catel­lum. Mam­malian Species, 263: 1-5. Ac­cessed Au­gust 12, 2011 at http://​www.​science.​smith.​edu/​msi/​pdf/​i0076-3519-263-01-0001.​pdf.

Whitaker Jr., J., Y. Yom-Tov. 2002. The Diet of Some In­sec­tiv­o­rous Bats from North­ern Is­real. Mam­malian Bi­ol­ogy, 67: 378-380. Ac­cessed Au­gust 12, 2011 at http://​www.​tau.​ac.​il/​lifesci/​zoology/​members/​yom-tov/​articles/​The_​diet.​pdf.