The greater short-nosed fruit bat (''Cynopterus sphinx''), or short-nosed Indian fruit bat, is a species of
megabat in the family Pteropodidae found in South and Southeast Asia.
Description
These bats have a relatively long snout. Their upper parts are brown to grey-brown with paler under parts. The fur is very fine and silky. The ears and wing bones of ''C. sphinx'' are edged in white. Lower cheek teeth rounded without accessory cusps. The wingspan of the adult is about 48 cm. Juveniles are lighter than adults. Average forearm length is 70.2 mm (64–79 mm).
Habitat
The greater short-nosed fruit bat is found from Pakistan to Vietnam. It is common in
tropical forests and areas where fruit crops are cultivated. They can also be found in
grasslands and
mangrove forests. They typically nest high in palm trees. The bats chew the fronds of the palms to construct fairly simple tents. These bats are also known to construct tents by closely interweaving the leaves and twigs of creeping vines which cover buildings, but such nests are constructed only when palms are not available.
Behaviour and breeding
The greater short-nosed fruit bat is gregarious, and typically roosts in same-sex groups of eight to nine individuals. The sexes remain separate until the mating season, when group size increases. They are
polygynous and 6-10 males and 10-15 females usually share palm-frond tents during the breeding season. They are known to perform
fellatio, which enhances copulation time in the species.
Copulation
Sexual intercourse (or coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion and thrusting of the penis into the vagina for sexual pleasure or reproduction.Sexual intercourse most commonly means penile–vaginal penetra ...
by males is dorsoventral and the females lick the shaft or the base of the male's penis, but not the glans which has already
penetrated the vagina. While the females do this, the penis is not withdrawn and research has shown a positive relationship between length of the time that the penis is licked and the duration of copulation. Postcopulation genital grooming has also been observed.
Males stay with females for some time after mating, but later return to same-sex groups.
The adult
sex ratio is very female biased. Researchers attribute this to the relatively rapid maturation of females compared to males. In
Central India, ''C. sphinx'' breeds twice per year. Females produce a single young at a time. Each half of the bicornate uterus functions during alternate breeding cycles. The first pregnancy cycle occurs from October through February/March. Mating occurs immediately ''
post partum
The postpartum (or postnatal) period begins after childbirth and is typically considered to end within 6 weeks as the mother's body, including hormone levels and uterus size, returns to a non-pregnant state. The terms puerperium, puerperal peri ...
'', and a second offspring is born in July. Gestation period is about 3–5 months. In 72% of bats, the first pregnancy occurs in the right horn of the uterus. The
corpus luteum in the right
ovary persists for some time after the pregnancy and prevents
ovulation from occurring in the right ovary during the second breeding cycle. This creates the pattern of alternate functioning of the two horns of the uterus. However, the corpus luteum in the left ovary does not persist until the beginning of the next breeding cycle. As yet, no reason has been found for the dominance of the right horn during the first breeding cycle. Newborn bats weigh about 13.5 g and have a wingspan of 24 cm. By the time of weaning at 4 weeks of age, young bats weigh 25 g and have wings spanning 36 cm. Female short-nosed fruit bats reach sexual maturity at 5–6 months of age, but males are not capable of breeding until they are a year old.
These bats are
frugivorous, and locate their preferred food items by scent. They have been described as voracious feeders, eating more than their body weight in food in one sitting. Some preferred fruits include ripe
guava,
banana,
chikoo, dates, and
lychees.
Short-nosed fruit bats inflict serious damage on many fruit crops, and are considered pests. In addition, these bats are possible vectors for
Japanese encephalitis, which is serious disease in humans. These bats are important dispersers of date palm seeds, and pollinate many night blooming flowers.
They are also known to construct shelter tents by severing leaves and stems from certain creepers and mast trees like ''
Polyalthia longifolia''.
Frugivory, nectarivory, and folivory are well understood; in addition, geophagy behaviour has also been reported in this species recently, and is suggested to represent an ‘adaptive behavioural plasticity’ in the foraging behaviour of the greater short-nosed fruit bat. According to Mahandran et al.
geophagy have the function of mineral supplementation and/or detoxification.
References
Further reading
* Nowak, Ronald. 1991 Walker's Mammals of the World, Fifth edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London.
Gallery
Image:Greater short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx) feeding on Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) at night in Kolkata W IMG 3881.jpg, Feeding on kapok (''Ceiba pentandra'') at night in Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
, West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), 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 and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
Image:Greater short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx) feeding on Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) at night in Kolkata W IMG 3877.jpg, Feeding on kapok at night in Kolkata
Image:Greater short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx) feeding on Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) at night in Kolkata W IMG 3860.jpg , Feeding on kapok at night in Kolkata
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1340212
Cynopterus
Bats of Asia
Bats of South Asia
Bats of Southeast Asia
Bats of Indonesia
Bats of Malaysia
Mammals of Pakistan
Mammals of Bangladesh
Mammals of Sri Lanka
Mammals of Myanmar
Mammals described in 1797
Articles containing video clips
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Bats of India