Lesser bamboo bat

Lesser bamboo bat
Lesser bamboo bat, taxidermy
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Vespertilionidae
Genus: Tylonycteris
Species: T. pachypus
Binomial name
Tylonycteris pachypus
(Temminck, 1840)

The lesser bamboo bat (Tylonycteris pachypus) is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is found in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines and other Southeast Asia countries.[1]

The bat, the size of a bumble bee, is among the smallest mammals on earth,[2] measuring about 40 millimetres (1.6 in) in length with a wingspan of 150 millimetres (5.9 in). It weighs 3.5 to 5.8g, or as little as 2.0g. A 4.8-gram T. pachypus has about a 0.08-g brain.

This species lives in the hollow of shoots of the giant bamboo Gigantochloa scortechinii; the entrance slit (created by the Chrysmelid beetle, Lasiochila goryi) to the bamboo tunnel is too restrictive for most predators, such as snakes. Flattened skull (to pass through entryway) and toe and wrist pads (to grip inner surface) are adaptations to their roosting site. Groups of up to 40.

Gestation 12 to 13 weeks. Usually two young; female carries young for first couple days, then leaves them behind in bamboo chamber. The young are weaned and become independent at six to seven weeks.

Subspecies are:

References

  1. 1 2 Bates, P., Francis, C., Rosell-Ambal, G., Heaney, L., Molur, S. & Srinivasulu, C. (2008). Tylonycteris pachypus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  2. Smithsonian Institution
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