Leschenault's rousette (''Rousettus leschenaultii'') is a species of

fruit bat Megabats constitute the family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera. They are also called fruit bats, Old World fruit bats, or—especially the genera ''Acerodon'' and ''Pteropus''—flying foxes. They are the only member of the superfamil ...

. The scientific name of the species was first published by

Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest (6 March 1784 – 4 June 1838) was a French Zoology, zoologist and author. He was the son of Nicolas Desmarest and the father of Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest. Career Desmarest was a disciple of Georges Cu ...

in 1820.

Description

Leschenault's rousette is brown to grey-brown in colour with lighter underparts. It has long pale hairs under the chin, an elongated muzzle and large dark eyes. The head and body length measures , the tail length measures and the forearm length is about .

Habits and habitat

This bat species is found in a variety of habitats ranging from tropical forests to urban environments. It roosts in

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

s, old abandoned buildings and tunnels, and other such structures. A colony of this animal can contain up to several thousand individuals. It feeds on fruits, nectar and flowers. Leschenault's rousette is found in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

from Iran to

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

and

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1762254 Rousettus Bats of South Asia Bats of Southeast Asia Bats of India Fauna of Hong Kong Mammals described in 1820