The dusky leaf-nosed bat (''Hipposideros ater'') is a

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 ...

from the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Hipposideros ''Hipposideros'' is one of the most diverse genera of bats, with more than 70 species. They are collectively called roundleaf bats after the shape of their nasal ornament. It is the type genus of the family Hipposideridae. It is divided into spe ...

'' whose habitat extends from

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 ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and Northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. This species is counted in the '' H. bicolor'' species group and was formerly classified within that species. The genus name ''

'' comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

words for "horse" (ἴππος) and "iron" (σίδηρος) and means "

horseshoe A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, altho ...

"; a reference to the complex nose that species in this genus are known for. The generic designation ''ater'' is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "black" and notes the relative dark color of this species's coat.Flannery, T.F. 1995. Mammals of the South-West Pacific & Moluccan Islands. Chatswood: Reed Books, 464 pp.

Habitat and behavior

In the Philippines this species is found in

rainforests Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

at sea level up to elevations of 1200 m. The animal rests in caves in both forests and agricultural areas. In Australia the species lives in both mangroves and rainforests in as well as in dry, open areas.Menkhorst, P. & Knight, F. 2001. A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, x+269 pp. Flannery, T.F. 1995. Mammals of New Guinea. Chatswood: Reed Books, 568 pp. Like most bats, ''H. ater'' is active at night. In Australia it sleeps in the daytime in caves, mines and sometimes tree holes, preferably in dark, warm and moist places. The animal eats small, flying insects. This bat flies slowly, but is manoeuvrable. The mating season is in April; the young are born from October to December and are weaned in January.

Range

In Australia, the species lives in the extreme north of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

( Kimberly), the northern half of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, in Cape York and the surrounding areas (

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

). The species was caught several times in Middle-Queensland and the south of the Northern Territories, outside of the "normal" range. In New Guinea, the species was captured in only three places, all three situated in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. In New Guinea the species is found in Ambon, the

Aru Islands Aru or ARU may refer to: Education * Alpha Rho Upsilon, a defunct fraternity in the United States * Anglia Ruskin University, a university in England * Ardhi University, a Tanzanian public university Places * Aru Islands Regency, a group of i ...

, Morotai,

New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...

, New Ireland and

Woodlark The woodlark or wood lark (''Lullula arborea'') is the only extant species in the lark genus ''Lullula''. It is found across most of Europe, the Middle East, western Asia and the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident (non-bird migrati ...

. It is also possible to find it in the

Sangihe Islands The Sangihe Islands (also spelled "Sangir", "Sanghir" or "Sangi") – – are a group of islands that constitute two regencies within the province of North Sulawesi, in northern Indonesia, the Sangihe Islands Regency. The word Sangihe ...

and

Talaud Islands The Talaud Islands Regency () is a Regency (Indonesia), regency of North Sulawesi province, Indonesia. The Talaud Islands form an archipelago situated to the northeast of the Minahasa Peninsula, with a land area of 1,251.02 km2. It had a populati ...

. In the

the species is found in Balabac,

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol (; ), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It is home to Bohola ...

Catanduanes Catanduanes (; ), officially the Province of Catanduanes (), is an island province located in the Bicol Region of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the 12th-largest island in the Philippines, and lies to the east of Camarines Sur, across the M ...

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

Marinduque Marinduque (; ), officially the Province of Marinduque, is an island province in the Philippines located in Southwestern Tagalog Region or Mimaropa, formerly designated as Region IV-B. Its capital is the municipality of Boac, the most popul ...

Maripipi Maripipi, officially the Municipality of Maripipi (; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Biliran, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 6,373 people, making it the least populated town in the province. The town' ...

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

Negros Negros (, , ) is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . The coastal zone of the southern part of Negros is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Tr ...

and

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

Subspecies

This species is divided into a number of

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

: ''H. a. amboinensis'' (Peters, 1871) from Ambon, ''H. a. antricola'' (Peters, 1861) in the Philippines (including Palawan), ''H. a. ater'' from Sri Lanka and India, ''H. a. aruensis'' Gray, 1858 from the Aru Islands and New Guinea, ''H. a. gilberti'' from Australia, ''H. a. nicobarulae'' in the

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelago, archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of t ...

and ''H. a. saevus'' from the area between South-

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...

.Hill, J.E. & Francis, C.M. 1984. New bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) and new records of bats from Borneo and Malaya. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology Series 47(5):305-329. Instances from

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

cannot be assigned to a particular subspecies, although ''H. a. antricola'' en ''H. a. saevus'' appear to have a slightly longer skull. They would be classified in the same way that ''H. a. ater'' en ''H. a. antricola'' sometimes have reduced teeth. However, there are only four known instances from Borneo, only one of which is undamaged.

Description

It is a very small leaf bat, but with huge, wide, round eyes. The coat is long and soft. The upside is grey-brown to grey, sometimes also orange. The square leaf nose is relatively simple in shape. The structure of the leaf nose appears on the '' H. cineraceus'' but the color appears more on the '' H. pomona''.Borissenko, A.V. & Kruskop, S.V. 2003. Bats of Vietnam and adjacent territories. An identification manual. Moscow: Zoological Museum of Moscow M. V. Lomonosov State University, 212 pp. Instances of this species from both India as well as

have a

karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is discerned by de ...

of van 2n=32, FN=60, just as many other ''Hipposideros'' species.Rickart, E.A., Mercier, J.A. & Heaney, L.R. 1999
Cytogeography of Philippine bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera)
Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 112(3):453-469. In the table below are the sizes of ''H. ater'' in various areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q288108 Hipposideros Bats of Asia Bats of Oceania Bats of Southeast Asia Bats of Australia Bats of Borneo Bats of India Bats of Indonesia Bats of New Guinea Bats of the Philippines Mammals of Bangladesh Mammals of Myanmar Mammals of Papua New Guinea Mammals of Western New Guinea Mammals of Sri Lanka Mammals of Western Australia Mammals of the Northern Territory Mammals of Queensland Mammals described in 1848 Taxa named by Robert Templeton Taxonomy articles created by Polbot