The Chinese rufous horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus sinicus'') is a species of

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

in the family Rhinolophidae. It is found in

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. The species is most easily confused with '' R. affinis'', from which it is best distinguished by its straight-sided lancet and the relatively short second phalanx of the third digit (< 66% of the length of the

metacarpal In human anatomy, the metacarpal bones or metacarpus, also known as the "palm bones", are the appendicular bones that form the intermediate part of the hand between the phalanges (fingers) and the carpal bones ( wrist bones), which articulate ...

; Csorba ''et al''. 2003).

Subspecies

''Rhinolophus sinicus'' is divided into the following two subspecies: * ''R. s. septentrionalis'' * ''R. s. sinicus''

Description

The Chinese rufous horseshoe bat has a forearm length of . It has an ear length of and a tail length of . Overall, it is considered a medium-sized horseshoe bat. It is similar in appearance to the rufous horseshoe bat, though with longer wings. While also similar to Thomas's horseshoe bat, it is slightly larger. The fur on its back is bicolored: the basal two-thirds of individual hairs are brownish-white, while the tips of the hairs are reddish brown. Its belly fur is paler in color and is brownish-white.

Biology and ecology

The Chinese rufous horseshoe bat is a social animal, forming

colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

of a few individuals up to several hundred. During the reproductive season, the sexes segregate, with females forming maternity colonies. Additionally this species is a food source of the parasite '' Sinospelaeobdella'', a jawed land leech. They roost in caves, often with other bat species.

Conservation status

Chinese rufous horseshoe bats are a

least-concern species A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

, assessed by the Red List of Threatened Species on the basis that it has fairly wide distribution and is locally common in southeast Asia. The species is not listed in the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife in 1989.

Disease

Bats of this species form the natural reservoir of ''

severe acute respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus Severity or Severely may refer to: * ''Severity'' (video game), a canceled video game * "Severely" (song), by South Korean band F.T. Island See also

* * {{disambig ...

''. An example of one particular strain present is

Bat SARS-like coronavirus WIV1 Bat SARS-like coronavirus WIV1 (Bat SL-CoV-WIV1), also sometimes called SARS-like coronavirus WIV1, is a strain of severe acute respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus (SARSr-CoV) isolated from Chinese rufous horseshoe bats in 2013 ('' Rhinolo ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1767536 Rhinolophidae Bats of China Mammals of Nepal Mammals described in 1905 Taxa named by Knud Andersen Taxonomy articles created by Polbot