Great horseshoe bat

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Great horseshoe bat
Great horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum)

Great horseshoe bat ( Rhinolophus ferrumequinum )

Systematics
Superordinate : Laurasiatheria
Order : Bats (chiroptera)
Superfamily : Horseshoe bat (Rhinolophoidea)
Family : Rhinolophidae
Genre : Horseshoe bat ( Rhinolophus )
Type : Great horseshoe bat
Scientific name
Rhinolophus ferrumequinum
( Schreber , 1774)

The greater horseshoe bat ( Rhinolophus ferrumequinum ), a bat species , is the largest European horseshoe bat species with a maximum length of seven centimeters (excluding the tail) and a wingspan of up to 40 centimeters . The weight is 17 to 30 g (34 g). On the upper side it has a gray-brown, slightly reddish tinted fur, on the underside this turns gray-white. This species can be easily and clearly identified thanks to its size and the design of the nose piece on the head.

distribution

Their distribution areas are mainly in North Africa , Southern and Western Europe (here the northernmost distribution areas are up to the 50th parallel) and southern England (up to the 51st parallel). In Germany only two places in the Upper Palatinate and near Trier are known where the species occurs, in Luxembourg there is another nursery near the German border. The last large nursery colony in Central Europe is located in the Vorderrheintal of the Swiss Alps , where around 150 adult animals gather to reproduce in summer.

The animals need warmer areas with loose vegetation and standing or flowing water. The highest known nursery is at an altitude of 968  m above sea level. A. in Austria .

description

Nose piece

Characteristic is the membranous structure on the head, which is called the nose attachment and shows several sections. The front part is reminiscent of a horseshoe, from which the name of this and related bat species can be traced back. In its center are the two nostrils. At the end of the so-called horseshoe, an upright spur is formed in the middle. The horseshoe and spur improve the directional radiation of the orientation sounds that the horseshoe bats send out through the nostrils. These parts are followed by an upright structure with several deep pits open to the front, in front of each of which there is a single, long sinus hair (whisker hair). According to current knowledge, these sinus hairs, in conjunction with the pits, serve to perceive air currents during flight. Finally, there is a single, upwardly directed extension called the lancet.

habitat

Great horseshoe bat in hibernation

Summer quarters are warm, draft-free attics, church towers, ruins and caves. The ingress and egress openings must be large enough for the animals to flow through them freely. From the beginning of October to the end of April, frost-proof, draft-free and sufficiently moist (at least 95% relative humidity ) mine tunnels , rock caves and underground vaults are used as winter quarters. The preferred ambient temperature is 7 to 10 degrees Celsius, the minimum temperature 4 degrees, the maximum temperature 12 degrees. During hibernation, the horseshoe bats cover their bodies with their flight membranes.

The animals are very faithful to their location. The winter and summer quarters are never more than 50 km apart.

Choice of mate and reproduction

Great horseshoe bats mate in spring and autumn. To do this, the females swarm out and seek out the male colonies in caves , with which they then mate. They then leave the males and form colonies made up of females only to give birth and raise the young.

The mating season begins in late summer. The gestation period is about 75 days. In July, a young animal with a weight of 5 to 6 g is born per female, which is capable of flight after three to four weeks, independent after seven to eight weeks and sexually mature after two to three years. A special feature of the great horseshoe bat is the choice of partner , here is a special form of polygyny , i.e. a form of society in which a male mates with several females. In this special form of polygyny, the male mates with all females of a family (intra-lineage polygyny) . This behavior was discovered in 2005 by researchers at the University of London when analyzing the relationships in a colony. To do this, they took DNA samples from mothers and their young and carried out a paternity test with the males from the caves within a radius of about 30 kilometers from the colony of females. The analysis showed that the animals not only mate with the same partner over and over again, i.e. are extremely loyal, but that this male also mates with the female offspring of the original female, which increases the degree of relationship in the colony so that they are different from the mutual help among each other in terms of their fitness and thus have an evolutionary advantage . So far, the question of how the females and their daughters manage to identify the same male over and over again has not been clarified.

Hunting and feeding

The relatively slow and low fighter flight, with numerous changes of direction and gliding phases, does not begin until it is completely dark. Like all horseshoe bats, this species is capable of shaking flight . The foraging for food takes about three hours per night and is divided into two flights. The prey consists mainly of beetles and night butterflies, which are not only caught in flight, but are also ingested by plants and the ground. The food is consumed in certain feeding places.

Like all horseshoe bats, the greater horseshoe bat uses its own ultrasound system to locate its prey . The horseshoe bat discharged through the nostrils while clicking sounds from which the larynx ( larynx are generated) and allow, via sound waves perceive objects up to 30 m. By means of the reflected acoustic signals, the horseshoe bats can gain images of their environment and can find their way around safely even in complete darkness. Using this method, the horseshoe bats can also tell the size of prey. This in turn enables them to select their prey in a targeted and economical manner. With the ultrasonic system, the horseshoe bats can achieve maximum energy gain with minimal (hunting) effort.

Age

By ringing, the greater horseshoe bat was found to be 30.5 years old. It is one of the species among European bats that reach the highest age. In Switzerland one in 1999 Little mouse ear ( Myotis blythii ) discovered that had been ringed in 1966 as a cub. A brown long-eared ear ( Plecotus auritus ) was discovered in Siberia and was 38 years old.

Hazard and protection

The population in Central Europe has declined sharply since the middle of the 20th century. The reasons for the population decline are the use of pesticides (especially lindane and DDT ), the associated loss of food supply and loss of housing. The species is on the red list in Germany and Austria as "critically endangered".

The greater horseshoe bat is listed by the European Union in Annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive and is therefore a species of community interest that must be strictly protected, and special protection areas must be designated for their preservation. For this reason, a LIFE project on the Great Horseshoe Bat was started in the Upper Palatinate in 2012. The aim of this is to increase the existing population by creating more living spaces, for example in attics, through citizen information. At the end of the project, a project report from the State Association for Bird Protection in Bavaria e. V. published.

The IUCN classifies the greater horseshoe bat because of its large distribution area as not endangered ("least concern").

literature

  • Wilfried Schober, Eckhard Grimmberger: The bats of Europe - know, determine, protect. 2nd updated edition, Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH, Stuttgart 1998. ISBN 3-440-07597-4
  • Christian Dietz, Otto von Helversen , Dietmar Nill: Handbook of the bats of Europe and Northwest Africa. Biology, characteristics, endangerment , (1st edition), Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH, Stuttgart 2007. ISBN 978-3-440-09693-2
  • Hans Schneider, Franz Peter Möhres: The ear movements of the horseshoe bats (Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) and the mechanism of picture hearing. In: Journal for Comparative Physiology, Volume 44, 1960, pp. 1-40.
  • Hans-Ulrich Schnitzler: The ultrasonic locating sounds of the horseshoe bats (Chiroptera-Rhinolophidae) in different orientation situations. In: Journal for Comparative Physiology, Volume 57, 1968, pp. 376-408.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Klaus Richarz. Observe, recognize and protect bats. Franckh-Kosmos , Stuttgart 2004 ISBN 978-3-440-09691-8 p. 102
  2. ↑ Hans Schneider: The sinus hairs of the great horseshoe bat Rhinolophus ferrum-equinum (Schreber, 1774). In: Journal of Mammals. Volume 28, 1963, pp. 342-349.
  3. ↑ Franz Peter Möhres: About the ultrasound orientation of the horseshoe bat (Chiroptera - Rhinolophinae). In: Journal for Comparative Physiology, Volume 34, 1953, pp. 547-588.
  4. ↑ Hans Schneider, Franz Peter Möhres: The ear movements of the horseshoe bats (Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) and the mechanism of picture hearing. In: Journal for Comparative Physiology, Volume 44, 1960, pp. 1-40.
  5. ↑ Klemen Koselj, Hans-Ulrich Schnitzler, Björn M. Siemers: Horseshoe bats make adaptive prey-selection decisions, informed by echo cues. In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B. March 2, 2011, doi : 10.1098 / rspb.2010.2793 . From RoyalSocietyPublishing.org, accessed January 6, 2020.
  6. ^ Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (Ed.): Red Lists of Endangered Animals Austria. Checklists, risk analyzes, need for action. Part 1: Mammals, birds, grasshoppers, water beetles, netwings, beaked flies, butterflies. Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-205-77345-4 .
  7. ^ Rudolf Leitl: LIFE project "Great horseshoe bat in the Upper Palatinate". In: Projects: Beginnings, Interim Results and Results. - ANLiegen Natur, Issue 35/1, Laufen 2013, ISBN 978-3-944219-02-8 , pp. 82-83 ( PDF ; 1.6 MB).
  8. ↑ Andreas von Lindeiner, Rudolf Leitl: Large horseshoe bat in the Upper Palatinate. State Association for Bird Protection in Bavaria V., October 2018, accessed on May 1, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Rhinolophus ferrumequinum in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014.2. Submitted by: S. Aulagnier et al., 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  10. ^ Christian Dietz, Otto von Helversen, Dietmar Nill: Handbook of the bats of Europe and Northwest Africa. Biology, characteristics, endangerment. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2007. ISBN 978-3-440-09693-2 , p. 181.

Web links

Commons : Great Horseshoe Bat  album containing pictures, videos and audio files