Percival's trident bat (''Cloeotis percivali'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of bat in the family

Hipposideridae The Hipposideridae are a family of bats commonly known as the Old World leaf-nosed bats. While it has often been seen as a subfamily, Hipposiderinae, of the family Rhinolophidae, it is now more generally classified as its own family.Simmons, 2 ...

. It is

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 "unispec ...

within the genus ''Cloeotis''. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, with its core distribution in

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number ...

. It has been reported from Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

s where there are suitable

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s and mine tunnels that it can use for

roosting Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

. Colonies are never large (no more than about 300 individuals). Local numbers fluctuate greatly. Colonies can disappear, perhaps because they move to another place or go extinct.

References

Hipposideridae Bats of Africa Mammals of Botswana Mammals of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mammals of Eswatini Mammals of Kenya Mammals of Mozambique Mammals of South Africa Mammals of Tanzania Mammals of Zambia Mammals of Zimbabwe Mammals described in 1901 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Hipposideridae-stub