African sheath-tailed bat
African sheath-tailed bat | |
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Conservation status | |
![]() Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1] | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Chiroptera |
Family: | Emballonuridae |
Genus: | Coleura |
Species: | C. afra |
Binomial name | |
Coleura afra (Peters, 1852) | |
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African sheath-tailed bat range |
The African sheath-tailed bat (Coleura afra) is a species of sac-winged bat in the family Emballonuridae.
Appearance and behavior
The African sheath-tailed bat weighs 10–12 grams (0.35–0.42 oz), with females slightly larger than males. Forearm lengths range from 45 to 55 millimetres (1.8 to 2.2 in). The fur is a deep brown, but slightly lighter on the belly. The nose is a pointed cone shape and the rhinarium is black and naked.[2] It is insectivorous, feeding on a range of insects, but particularly beetles and lepidopterans.[3] Feeding is strongly dependent on the season, with much greater feeding activity occurring during the rainy season.[3] It lives in caverns in groups exceeding 50,000. Within colonies, the social structure consists of harems of around 20 females being attended usually by a single male. While female juveniles sometimes remain within the cluster into which they were born, young males disperse and join bachelor clusters.[3]
Distribution and habitat
The African sheath-tailed bat is found in Angola, Benin, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Yemen.[1] Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subsaharic shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, caves, and hot deserts.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Monadjem, A.; Bergmans, W.; Racey, P.A.; Mickleburgh, S.; Hutson, A.M.; Cardiff, S.G. (2017). "Coleura afra". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T5113A22089365. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T5113A22089365.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ Dunlop, Jenna (1997). Mammalian Species (PDF). American Society of Mammalogists. p. 566. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2013-06-10.
- ^ a b c McWilliam, Andrew (1987). The reproductive and social biology of Coleura afra in a seasonal environment. Recent advances in the study of bats. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 281–298. ISBN 0521321603.
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- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Infraclass: Eutheria
- Superorder: Laurasiatheria
- Order: Chiroptera
- Ecuadorian sac-winged bat (B. infusca)
- Thomas's sac-winged bat (B. io)
- Gray sac-winged bat (B. plicata)
- Thomas's shaggy bat (C. centralis)
- Shaggy bat (C. maximiliani)
- African sheath-tailed bat (C. afra)
- Madagascar sheath-tailed bat (C. kibomalandy)
- Seychelles sheath-tailed bat (C. seychellensis)
- Chestnut sac-winged bat (C. brevirostris)
- Short-eared bat (C. alecto)
(Ghost bats)
- Northern ghost bat (D. albus)
- Greater ghost bat (D. ingens)
- Isabelle's ghost bat (D. isabellus)
- Lesser ghost bat (D. scutatus)
- Small Asian sheath-tailed bat (E. alecto)
- Beccari's sheath-tailed bat (E. beccarii)
- Large-eared sheath-tailed bat (E. dianae)
- Greater sheath-tailed bat (E. furax)
- Lesser sheath-tailed bat (E. monticola)
- Raffray's sheath-tailed bat (E. raffrayana)
- Pacific sheath-tailed bat (E. semicaudata)
- Seri's sheath-tailed bat (E. serii)
- Dark sheath-tailed bat (M. nigrescens)
- Greater dog-like bat (P. kappleri)
- White-winged dog-like bat (P. leucoptera)
- Lesser dog-like bat (P. macrotis)
- Pale-winged dog-like bat (P. pallidoptera)
- Trinidad dog-like bat (P. trinitatis)
- Proboscis bat (R. naso)
- Yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat (S. flaviventris)
- Papuan sheath-tailed bat (S. mixtus)
- Pel's pouched bat (S. peli)
- Naked-rumped pouched bat (S. saccolaimus)
- Antioquian sac-winged bat (S. antioquensis)
- Greater sac-winged bat (S. bilineata)
- Frosted sac-winged bat (S. canescens)
- Amazonian sac-winged bat (S. gymnura)
- Lesser sac-winged bat (S. leptura)
- Indonesian tomb bat (T. achates)
- Coastal sheath-tailed bat (T. australis)
- Common sheath-tailed bat (T. georgianus)
- Hamilton's tomb bat (T. hamiltoni)
- Hildegarde's tomb bat (T. hildegardeae)
- Hill's sheath-tailed bat (T. hilli)
- Arnhem sheath-tailed bat (T. kapalgensis)
- Long-winged tomb bat (T. longimanus)
- Mauritian tomb bat (T. mauritianus)
- Black-bearded tomb bat (T. melanopogon)
- Naked-rumped tomb bat (T. nudiventris)
- Egyptian tomb bat (T. perforatus)
- Theobald's tomb bat (T. theobaldi)
- Troughton's sheath-tailed bat (T. troughtoni)