Fold-lipped bats
| Fold-lipped bats | ||||||||||||
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Tadarida brasiliensis |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Tadarida | ||||||||||||
| Rafinesque , 1814 |
The folding-lipped bats ( Tadarida ), also folding-lipped bats and bulldog bats , are a species of bat from the family of bulldog bats (Molossidae). The genus, which is distributed almost worldwide, comprises ten species, including the European bulldog bat , the only European member of this family.
description
These bats reach a head body length of 4.5 to 10 centimeters, plus a 3 to 6 centimeter long tail. Their weight is between 10 and 40 grams. The color of the fur varies from reddish brown to black. Like many bulldog bats, they are characterized by their grooved lips and the tail protruding from the uropatagium (the skin between the legs). An N-shaped arrangement of the cusps on the molars is characteristic of the genus .
Habitat and way of life
The bats of the genus Tadarida are distributed almost worldwide , with the exception of the northern regions of Eurasia and North America and remote islands. The habitats vary from forest areas to grasslands and other open habitats. Depending on the species, tree hollows, crevices and man-made dwellings can serve as resting places. Social behavior is also variable: while many species live in relatively small groups , collections of 100 million animals are known of the American species Tadarida brasiliensis from the 1960s - the highest number known for mammals overall. At night they go in search of food, where they mainly prey on moths and beetles .
After a gestation period of around 80 days, the female usually gives birth to a single young. Some species form nurseries in which the females gather separately from the males for the birth and rearing of young.
The species
The genus Tadarida is divided into ten species:
- Tadarida aegyptiaca is native to all of Africa , the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent .
- Tadarida australis lives in western and southern Australia . With a head body length of up to 10 centimeters and a weight of 40 grams, it is the largest species of its kind.
- Mexican bulldog bat ( Tadarida brasiliensis ) is found on the American continent from the USA to Chile and is one of the smallest species.
- Tadarida fulminans inhabits eastern and southern Africa including Madagascar .
- Tadarida insignis occurs in China , Japan , Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula .
- Tadarida kuboriensis isendemicto New Guinea .
- Tadarida latouchei lives in eastern Asia .
- Tadarida lobata is known from Kenya and Zimbabwe .
- The European bulldog bat ( Tadarida teniotis ) occurs from the Mediterranean area to East Asia.
- Tadarida ventralis lives in large parts of Africa south of the Sahara.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999, ISBN 0801857899 .
- Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World . 3rd edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, ISBN 0801882214 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Murray Wrobel: Elsevier's Dictionary of Mammals . Elsevier 2006, ISBN 978-0444518774 .
Web links
- Endangerment level of the individual species in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species .