Salim Ali's fruit bat (''Latidens salimalii'') is a rare

megabat Megabats constitute the Family (biology), family Pteropodidae of the Order (biology), order Chiroptera. They are also called fruit bats, Old World fruit bats, or—especially the genus, genera ''Acerodon'' and ''Pteropus''—Pteropus, flyin ...

species in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus ''Latidens''. It was first collected by Angus Hutton, a planter and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

in the

High Wavy Mountains Meghamalai (Tamil: மேகமலை), commonly known as the High Wavy Mountains, is a mountain range located in the Western Ghats in the Theni district near Kumily, Tamil Nadu. It is dotted with cardamom plantations and tea plantations. The ...

in the Western Ghats of

Theni district Theni District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in India. Surrounded by hills, the district is located to the west of Madurai district. The town of Theni is the district headquarters. The district is divided into two natural div ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

in 1948. It was initially misidentified as a short-nosed fruit bat (''Cynopterus'') but later identified by

Kitti Thonglongya Kitti Thonglongya (, October 6, 1928 – February 12, 1974) was an eminent Thai ornithologist and mammalogist. He is probably best known for two discoveries of endangered species. Life Thonglongya was born in Bangkok and graduated with a degree ...

as a new species and was named after Indian

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

Salim Ali Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987) was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Sometimes referred to as the "Birdman of India", Salim Ali was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and wrot ...

in 1972.

Description

It is medium-sized and has no external

tail The tail is the elongated section at the rear end of a bilaterian animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage extending backwards from the midline of the torso. In vertebrate animals that evolution, evolved to los ...

. Ears are oval with rounded tips. The head is covered by blackish brown fur and the wing is light brown in colour and the underparts are light grey-brown with the brown wing membrane (

Patagium The patagium (: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flying. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, theropod dinosaurs (inclu ...

) hairless. It has fifteen

palatal The palate () is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly sepa ...

ridges. The

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit ** podium * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ...

is long and narrow and the palate is very long especially postdental portion. Post orbital

foramina In anatomy and osteology, a foramen (; : foramina, or foramens ; ) is an opening or enclosed gap within the dense connective tissue (bones and deep fasciae) of extant and extinct amniote animals, typically to allow passage of nerves, arter ...

are absent.

Incisor Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, wher ...

s 1 pair and peg like, cheek teeth brad. First

premolar The premolars, also called premolar Tooth (human), teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the Canine tooth, canine and Molar (tooth), molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per dental terminology#Quadrant, quadrant in ...

s are very small and slightly exceeds the incisors in the crown area. Body length is 10 cm, hindfeet 0.8–1.5 cm, forearm 6.6 cm. It was observed that these bats eat fresh fruits of '' Elaeocarpus oblongus'' (''Rudraksh'' or bead tree) and the figs ''

Ficus glomerata ''Ficus racemosa'', the cluster fig, red river fig or gular, is a species of plant in the family Moraceae. It is native to Australia and tropical Asia. It is a fast-growing plant with large, very rough leaves, usually attaining the size of a lar ...

'' (cluster fig), ''

Ficus macrocarpa The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and is ...

'' (Indian laurel fig) and ''

Ficus beddomei ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending in ...

'' (''Thavital'', a strangler fig).

Range

The first description of the bat was from a single specimen collected at an altitude of 750 meters in the High Wavy Mountains of the Annamalai Western Ghats, Theni district,

, South India. In 2002 the

Indian government The Government of India (ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territor ...

added the

Wroughton's free-tailed bat Wroughton's free-tailed bat (''Otomops wroughtoni'') is a free-tailed bat formerly considered to be confined to the Western Ghats area of India, though it has also recently been discovered in northeast India and in a remote part of Cambodia. I ...

(''Otomops wroughtonii'') and Salim Ali's fruit bat (''Latidens salimalii'') to Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, affording these two species the highest level of protection. The other 112 species of bats in India were not affected."No Longer Vermin"
Bat Conservation International Newsletter, Vol 2, No. 2 (February 2003)

Conservation

Salim Ali's fruit bat was listed as

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

in 1996, and has been considered an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

since 2004. It meets the criteria for this designation because of its small population size of fewer than 1,000 individuals. Additionally, it is experiencing population decline, with the population expected to contract by a further 20% by 2032 due to hunting for

bushmeat Bushmeat is meat from wildlife species that are Hunting, hunted for human consumption. Bushmeat represents a primary source of animal protein and a cash-earning commodity in poor and rural communities of humid tropical forest regions of the worl ...

, loss and degradation of caves, and

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q301489 Mammals described in 1972 Nature conservation in India Mammals of India Memorials to Salim Ali