Nycteridae
Encyclopedia
Nycteridae is the family of slit-faced or hollow-faced bats. They are grouped in a single genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

, Nycteris. The bats are found in East Malaysia
East Malaysia
East Malaysia, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia located on the island of Borneo. It consists of the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the Federal Territory of Labuan. It lies to the east from Peninsular Malaysia , which is located on the Malay Peninsula. The two are...

, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 and many parts of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

.

They are small bats, from 4 to 8 cm in body length, and with grey, brown, or reddish fur. A long slit runs down the centre of their faces from between the eyes to the nostrils, and probably assists in echolocation
Animal echolocation
Echolocation, also called biosonar, is the biological sonar used by several kinds of animals.Echolocating animals emit calls out to the environment and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from various objects near them. They use these echoes to locate and identify the objects...

. They have large ears, and a complex nose-leaf. Their tail ends in a T-shape, formed from cartilage, a feature that is unique among mammals. Their dental formula
Dentition
Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age...

 is:

Slit-faced bats roost in caves, trees, and buildings, typically in fairly small colonies. Some even roost in animal burrows, such as those of hedgehog
Hedgehog
A hedgehog is any of the spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera, found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand . There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to the Americas...

s or porcupine
Porcupine
Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about long, with...

s. They eat insects, and some terrestrial invertebrates, such as spiders and small scorpions. At least one species, the Large Slit-Faced Bat
Large Slit-Faced Bat
The Large Slit-Faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat with a broad distribution in forest and savanna habitats. N. marica , is the available name for the southern savanna species if it is recognized as distinct from this species.-References:* Mickleburgh, S., Hutson, A., Bergmans, W. & Fahr, J....

, even catches vertebrate prey, such as frogs and small birds.

The echolocation calls of slit-faced bats are relatively quiet and short in duration, and they seem to target their prey by hearing the sounds it produces, rather than by sonar. They give birth once or twice each year.

Classification

Most sources report 13 species. However 16 have been described. Those of indeterminate status are marked with "?" in the list below.

FAMILY NYCTERIDAE
  • Genus Nycteris
    • Bate's Slit-Faced Bat
      Bate's Slit-Faced Bat
      Bate's Slit-Faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat frequently confused with Nycteris major. It is broadly distributed and common, living throughout many parts of Africa in forests and savannas.-References:...

      , Nycteris arge
    • Andersen's Slit-faced Bat
      Andersen's Slit-faced Bat
      Andersen's Slit-faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat living in the savanna and desert regions of East Africa. Very little is known about this species. Some scientists rate this species as "near threatened", but the World Conservation Union does not believe that enough information is available...

      , Nycteris aurita
    • Gambian Slit-faced Bat
      Gambian Slit-faced Bat
      The Gambian Slit-faced Bat is a species of bat in the Nycteridae family. It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist...

      , Nycteris gambiensis
    • Large Slit-Faced Bat
      Large Slit-Faced Bat
      The Large Slit-Faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat with a broad distribution in forest and savanna habitats. N. marica , is the available name for the southern savanna species if it is recognized as distinct from this species.-References:* Mickleburgh, S., Hutson, A., Bergmans, W. & Fahr, J....

      , Nycteris grandis
    • Hairy Slit-Faced Bat
      Hairy Slit-Faced Bat
      The Hairy Slit-Faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat that is widely distributed throughout forests and savannas in Africa. Two recognized subspecies exist: Nycteris hispida hispida and Nycteris hispida pallida...

      , Nycteris hispida
      • Nycteris hispida hispida
      • Nycteris hispida pallida
    • Intermediate Slit-Faced Bat
      Intermediate Slit-Faced Bat
      The Intermediate Slit-Faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat living in forest and savanna regions of west and central Africa. It is easily confused with Nycteris arge and Nycteris nana. N. Intermedia is broadly distributed, but is classified as near-threatened because of the threat of predicted...

      , Nycteris intermedia
    • Javan Slit-Faced Bat
      Javan Slit-Faced Bat
      The Javan Slit-Faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat that lives in the dry tropical and sub-tropical forests of Indonesia.-References:...

      , Nycteris javanica
    • Large-Eared Slit-Faced Bat
      Large-Eared Slit-Faced Bat
      The Large-Eared Slit-Faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat which lives in forests and savannas throughout Africa. Nycteris vinsoni was once considered a synonym of N. macrotis, but it became recognized as a separate species in 2004. Some, however, still consider N. vinsoni to be a subspecies of...

      , Nycteris macrotis
      • Nycteris macrotis aethiopica
      • Nycteris macrotis macrotis
      • Nycteris macrotis luteola
    • Malagasy Slit-faced Bat
      Malagasy Slit-faced Bat
      The Malagasy Slit-faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat in Madagascar. Very little is known about this species.-References:...

      , Nycteris madagascariensis
    • Ja Slit-Faced Bat
      Ja Slit-Faced Bat
      The Ja Slit-Faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat that lives in the tropical and sub-tropical forests of Africa. Its habitat is fragmented and declining, and the species is therefore very rare. Logging and farming are the greatest threats to its habitat currently...

      , Nycteris major
      • Nycteris major avakubia
      • Nycteris major major
    • Dwarf Slit-Faced Bat
      Dwarf Slit-Faced Bat
      The Dwarf Slit-Faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat living in forest and savanna regions of Central Africa. Two subspecies have been noted: N. nana nana and N. nana tristis.-References:...

      , Nycteris nana
      • Nycteris nana nana
      • Nycteris nana tristis
    • Egyptian Slit-Faced Bat
      Egyptian Slit-Faced Bat
      The Egyptian Slit-Faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat broadly distributed throughout Africa and the Middle East. It can live in widely diverse habitats, including forests, caves, deserts, savannas, shrublands, and grasslands. Its subspecies include:*N. thebaica adana*N. thebaica albiventer*N....

      , Nycteris thebaica
      • Nycteris thebaica adana
      • Nycteris thebaica albiventer
      • Nycteris thebaica capensis
      • Nycteris thebaica damarensis
      • Nycteris thebaica najdiya
      • Nycteris thebaica thebaica
    • Malayan Slit-Faced Bat
      Malayan Slit-Faced Bat
      The Malayan Slit-Faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat which lives in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand.-References:...

      , Nycteris tragata
    • Parissi's Slit-Faced Bat
      Parissi's Slit-Faced Bat
      Parissi's Slit-Faced Bat is a possible species of slit-faced bat that may live in dry savanna regions of East Africa, near the Duba valley and Benue along with large rivers. It is only known from three specimens. One was found in northern Cameroon, one from southern Ethiopia, and the third from...

      , Nycteris parisii ?
    • Vinson's Slit-Faced Bat
      Vinson's Slit-Faced Bat
      Vinson's Slit-Faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat known only from two specimens. Both specimens were smoked out of a Baobab tree in a national park in southern Mozambique. Virtually nothing is known about this species....

      , Nycteris vinsoni
    • Wood's Slit-Faced Bat
      Wood's Slit-Faced Bat
      Wood's Slit-Faced Bat is a species of slit-faced bat that lives in the dry savanna regions of Southern Africa. Its numbers are declining due to habitat loss from logging and farming, pesticide use, and the decline of baobab trees which these bats depend on for roost sites.-References:*...

      , Nycteris woodi
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