The Pomona roundleaf bat, Pomona leaf-nosed bat, or Andersen's leaf-nosed bat (''Hipposideros pomona'') is a species 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 ...

that is endemic to India.

Taxonomy

It was described as a new species in 1918 by Danish mammalogist Knud Andersen. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

had been collected in what was then the

Coorg Province Coorg Province was a province of British India from 1834 to 1947 and the Dominion of India from 1947 to 1950. Mercara was the capital of the province. It was administered by a Commissioner and later, Chief Commissioner appointed by the Governm ...

of India by

G. C. Shortridge Guy Chester Shortridge (1880–1949) was a South African mammalogist who undertook expeditions in his own state, in Java, Guatemala, Southern India, Burma and at the prompting of Oldfield Thomas travelled to Southwest Australia. Biography Guy C ...

. The Vietnam leaf-nosed bat, ''Paracoelops megalotis'', formerly known as its own species based on one specimen, is now recognized as

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

with the pomona roundleaf bat. In 2012, researchers determined that all the features of ''P. megalotis'' match the pomona roundleaf bat. Their skulls and teeth were identical, and the ''P. megalotis'' specimen is indistinguishable from pomona roundleaf bat individuals. The

Integrated Taxonomic Information System The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagenc ...

, responsible for managing taxonomy of species, no longer recognizes ''Paracoelops'' as a valid genus nor ''P. megalotis'' as a valid species.

Description

Its forearm length is approximately .

Range and status

Some authors recognize ''H. gentilis'' as a species rather than as a subspecies of ''H. pomona''. If ''H. gentilis'' is not included, ''H. pomona'' has a greatly restricted range, occurring in only 8–10 roosts in a area. As of 2020, it is evaluated as a endangered species by the IUCN.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1761748 Hipposideros Bats of Asia Bats of South Asia Mammals described in 1918 Taxa named by Knud Andersen Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Bats of India