The Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat (Cynopterus brachyotis) is a species of megabat

Megabat

Megabats constitute the suborder Megachiroptera, family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera . They are also called fruit bats, old world fruit bats, or flying foxes.-Description:...

 within the Pteropodidae family. It is a small bat that lives in South and Southeast Asia and Indonesia (Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

) which weighs between 21 and 32 g (0.740753204207351 and 1.1 oz) that occurs in most habitats

Habitat (ecology)

A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...

 (but most frequently in disturbed forest) including lower montane forest, tropical lowland rainforest, gardens, mangrove

Mangrove

Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...

s, and vegetation on beaches.

Description

Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats are generally brown to yellowish brown with a brighter collar. Adult males have dark orange collars whereas adult females have yellowish collars. An indistinct collar is observed in some immature bats. The edges of the ears and the wing bones are usually white. Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats have two pairs of lower incisors, a fox-like face and large dark eyes. Forearm length is 55-65 mm (2.1-2.6 in), tail length is 8-10 mm (0.3-0.4 in), and ear length is 14-16 mm (0.5-0.6 in) (Payne et al. 1985).

There are nine subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat. Corbet and Hill listed 19 alternate names of C. brachyotis, which include: Pachysoma brachyotis, P. duvaucelii, P. brevicaudatum, P. luzoniense, C. grandidieri, C. marginatus var. scherzeri, C. marginatus var. ceylonensis, C. marginatus var. philippensis, C. marginatus var. cuminggii, C. marginatus var. andamanensis, C. brachyoma, C. montanoi, C. minutus, C. minor, C. babi, C. archipelagus and C. nusatenggara. Kitchener and Maharadatunkamsi considered luzoniensis and minutus as separate species while Hill and Thonglongya transferred angulatus to C. sphinx.

The lifespan of Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats is approximately 20 to 30 years.

Similar species

The Greater Short-nosed Fruit Bat is similar to the Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat but has generally longer forearms, longer ears and a much longer skull. P. lucasi has only one pair of lower incisors, a lack of white edges to the ears and a usually greyer color. C.horsfieldi is larger, with heavily cusped molars. M.ecaudatus usually have a more upturned nose, lack a bright collar and tail, and have only one pair of lower incisors.

Diet

Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats are frugivorous bats. They prefer aromatic fruit, especially mangoes. The bats feed mainly on small fruits by sucking out the juices and soft pulp. They also eat nectar and pollen.

Reproduction

The mating system of Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats is polygynous. In the Philippines, most populations of Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats give birth twice a year and pregnant females have been found in almost all months. The period of gestation is approximately 3.5 to 4.0 months. The mother feeds the young with milk for about six to eight weeks. It takes about a year for the male to become sexually mature, and most females become pregnant at approximately six to eight months of age. Medway observed that breeding was non-seasonal in Peninsular Malaysia and that a single young was produced and carried by the female during the early stage of its life. The breeding of Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats is also non-seasonal in Thailand, as reported by Lekagul and McNeely (1977). Most pregnancies in Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats occur from March to June with peaks in January and September. There is a time regulation in Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats so that lactation corresponds with the peak of the rainy season as well as the fruiting season. Both sexes of Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats take care of the young. Males play an active role in lactation and feeding the young. They have mammary glands that are same size as the those of the female and exceed 8% of their overall body mass.

Behavior

Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats prefer to roost in small groups in trees, under leaves, and in caves. The roosting of individual Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats is either alone for young males or in groups. It is common for one male to roost with four females. Sometimes there may be up to 20 females in groups. Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats bite off the center part of palm fruit clusters, leaving a hollow for hanging, which is the method they use to construct a shelter. Males may spend more than two months chewing the veins of leaves and palm fronds until they fall to form a shelter. Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats use tactile, visual, and acoustic stimuli to communicate. They forage with their acute sense of smell and navigate with their keen vision.

Distribution and habitat

A Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat type specimen was collected from the Dewei River in Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

 on 12 September 1836, and at Naga Cave near Jammut on the Teweh River, Borneo.

Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats are widely distributed in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

, southwest India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, northeast India, Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, southern China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, southern Burma, Indochina

Indochina

The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...

, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, the Malay Peninsula

Malay Peninsula

The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...

, Sumatra

Sumatra

Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...

, Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

, Bali

Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

, Sulawesi

Sulawesi

Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...

, the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 and also on the Lesser Sunda Islands

Lesser Sunda Islands

The Lesser Sunda Islands or Nusa Tenggara are a group of islands in the southern Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up the Sunda Islands...

. They are found from sea level up to 1600 m in Borneo.They are also reported on several islands including P.Balembangan. The nominate subspeciesC. b. brachyotis is distributed in Borneo, Lombok

Lombok

Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east...

, Peninsular Malaysia, the Philippines and Sulawesi. It is found widespread from sea level to 1,600 meters in altitude. C.b. altitudinis is confined to the highlands of Peninsular Malaysia, from the Cameron Highlands

Cameron Highlands

The Cameron Highlands is one of Malaysia’s most extensive hill stations. It covers an area of .To the north, its boundary touches that of Kelantan; to the west, it shares part of its border with Perak....

 to Gunung Bunga Buah.. C.b. brachysoma is found on the Andaman Islands; C.b. cylonensis in Sri Lanka; C.b. concolor in Enggano; C.b. hoffetti in Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

; C.b. insularum on the Kangean Islands

Kangean Islands

The Kangean Islands form an archipelago part of Indonesia, are located in the Java Sea approximately north of Bali and 120 km east of Madura Island. The islands are administratively a part of Sumenep Regency within East Java province.The largest island, at about 490 km², is Kangean Island...

; C.b. javanicus on Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

; and C.b. minutus on Nias

Nias

Nīas is an island off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago, containing the Hinako archipelago....

Ecological and economic importance

Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats are free of terrestrial predation because of their ability to fly. Some human cultures consume them as a delicacy. Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats play important roles in plant pollination. Plants such as bananas, avocadoes, dates, mangoes, peaches, and agave tequilana depend on them for seed dispersal. Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats are considered to be crop pests since they consume and damage fruit.

Conservation status

Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats are a least-concern species by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature

The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 28 members from 20 countries, mainly practicing zoological taxonomists...

because the population is widely distributed, stable and still abundant. Possible threats may be habitat loss due to development, dams, and deforestation. The animals are being hunted for medical purposes, as reported in ICZN 2006.