Fruit bats
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Kalong fruit bat ( Pteropus vampyrus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the superfamily | ||||||||||||
| Pteropodoidea | ||||||||||||
| JE Gray , 1821 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Pteropodidae | ||||||||||||
| JE Gray, 1821 |
The fruit bats ( Pteropodidae) are a mammal family from the order of the bats (Chiroptera). They are the only family of the superfamily Pteropodoidea and together with the horseshoe bat-like (Rhinolophoidea) form the suborder Yinpterochiroptera . The family comprises around 40 genera with almost 200 species .
distribution
Fruit bats are common in tropical and subtropical regions in Africa (including Madagascar and the Seychelles ), the Indian Ocean (Maldives), southern Asia , Australia, and western Oceania . In Europe, only the Egyptian bat can be found on the island of Cyprus . Geographically, this belongs to Asia.
description
Flying foxes are the largest bat species. The Kalong has a wingspan of up to 170 centimeters and some species have a head body length of up to 40 centimeters. However, many species are smaller and the largest bat species are significantly larger than the smallest species of flying fox.
In their physique, the fruit bats correspond to the other bats , the flight membrane is stretched by the extended second to fifth fingers and extends to the ankles. However, most fruit bats - with the exception of the long-tailed bat ( Notopteris ) - have no or only a very short tail. The uropatagium (the tail skin) is also just a narrow strip along the hind legs. Another distinguishing feature to the bats is a claw on the second finger, which is present in most types of fruit bat, but is absent in bats.
The faces of the fruit bats are simply built. The noses have no nasal blades and their small, oval ears have no tragus . The snouts are often elongated, which is what led to the dog-like appearance and their German name.
Way of life
Fruit bats are primarily crepuscular or nocturnal. They often cover long distances in search of food, and during the day they sleep hanging upside down. In contrast to bats, fruit bats are often found hanging from trees in exposed places.
Another difference to the bats is the lack of echolocation - except for the rosette bat . Flying foxes have well-developed eyes and an excellent sense of smell. Due to the warm climate in their area of distribution, they do not hibernate . While the larger species often live together in large groups, where they can form large colonies of up to 500,000 animals and develop complex social behavior, the smaller species tend to be solitary.
food
Fruit bats feed on plants, nectar , pollen , fruits and flowers . A number of species are therefore important for vegetation , as they transport seeds when eating fruits or pollinate flowers ( chiropterophilia ). Larger colonies are able to spread several hundred thousand seeds in one night, as has been demonstrated for example in the case of the African palm bat , which allows plants to return to regions that have already been deforested.
Reproduction
Even the sexual act is performed upside down. Most of the time the females give birth to a single cub only once a year. Pregnant females often separate from the males and form nurseries in which they raise their offspring. Flying foxes are relatively long-lived animals, they can reach an age of up to 30 years.
Danger
Eight species are extinct according to the IUCN , and 22 more are endangered or critically endangered.
The main reason the species are threatened is the destruction of their habitat by clearing forests. Many species are also endemic to small islands and are therefore particularly susceptible to ecosystem disturbances. Some species are considered pests by humans because they eat the fruit in orchards, or they are hunted for their meat.
The Mauritius government decided in October 2015 to kill 20 percent of the Pteropus niger population because the animals allegedly damage the mango and lychee crops . Animal rights activists and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) warned that this could bring the species to the verge of extinction.
Systematics
External system
Whether the bats (fruit bats and bats) are monophyletic , that is, have developed from a common ancestor, or developed independently of one another and represent only one example of convergent evolution , was a matter of dispute for a long time. Today, however, one usually assumes the monophyly of the bats. For more details, see under Systematics of the bats .
Internal system
Traditionally, the flying foxes were divided into two subfamilies: The actual flying foxes (Pteropodinae) faced a group of smaller animals, which are characterized by a long tongue and mainly feed on nectar, these were called long-tongue flying foxes (Macroglossinae). However, recent studies have shown that this classification is not tenable.
The internal systematics of the fruit bats is still controversial and the subject of numerous studies. The following classification into generic groups is largely based on the phylogenetic study by Kate E. Jones et al. a .: A Phylogenetic Supertree of Bats . The authors do not use a rank in the classical sense for the taxa . The designation of all eight groups as a tribe with the ending -ini (here and in the linked articles) is therefore chosen arbitrarily. Sometimes one finds individual groups in the rank of a subfamily ( -inae ) or a subtribe ( -ina ).
- The short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterini) have a short snout, the nostrils sit on short tubes.
- The tube-nosed bat (Nyctimenini) are characterized by long, tubular noses.
- The rousettus (Rousettini) take their name from a coat pattern in the throat region, to them, are among the palm fruit bat and the Egyptian fruit bat .
- The epaulette flying dogs (Epomophorini) are characterized by epaulette-like shoulder drawings , this group includes the hammer head .
- The long-tongue bat (Macroglossini) in the narrower sense (see above) are characterized by a long tongue.
- The pointed-toothed batfish (Harpyionycterini) differ in the structure of the teeth from the other types of fruit bat.
- The nude back bats (Dobsoniini) the flight membranes have coalesced behind, giving the impression of a naked back.
- The actual fruit bats (Pteropodini) include the largest fruit bats.
The history of the development of the fruit bats can be summarized in the following diagram:
| Fruit bats (Pteropodidae) |
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literature
- Justin A Welbergen, Stefan M Klose, Nicola Markus, Peggy Eby: Climate change and the effects of temperature extremes on Australian flying-foxes . In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences . tape 275 , no. 1633 , January 22, 2008, p. 419-425 , doi : 10.1098 / rspb.2007.1385 .
- Stefan M. Klose: The flying fox manual. A new handbook for wildlife carers in Australia . In: Acta Chiropterologica . tape 8 , no. 2 , December 2006, p. 573-574 , doi : 10.3161 / 1733-5329 (2006) 8 [573: BR] 2.0.CO; 2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Yinpterochiroptera Springer, Teeling, Madsen, Stanhope and Jong, 2001 at ITIS
- ↑ Mariëlle L. van Toor, M. Teague O'Mara, Michael Abedi-Lartey, Martin Wikelski, Jakob Fahr and Dina KN Dechmann: Linking colony size with quantitative estimates of ecosystem services of African fruit bats. Current Biology 29 (7), 2019, p. PR237-R238, doi: 10.1016 / j.cub.2019.02.033
- ↑ iucn.org
- ↑ Kate E. Jones, Andy Purvis, Ann MacLarnon, Olaf R. Bininda-Emonds, Nancy B. Simmons: A phylogenetic supertree of the bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) . In: Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society . tape 77 , no. 2 , 2002, p. 223-259 , doi : 10.1017 / S1464793101005899 ( molekularesystematik.uni-oldenburg.de [PDF; 5.2 MB ; accessed on April 3, 2014]).