The African yellow bat (''Scotophilus dinganii'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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 ...

in the family Vespertilionidae, the

vesper bat Vespertilionidae is a family of microbats, of the order Chiroptera, flying, insect-eating mammals variously described as the common, vesper, or simple nosed bats. The vespertilionid family is the most diverse and widely distributed of bat famili ...

s. Other common names include African yellow house bat, yellow-bellied house bat, and Dingan's Bat. It is one of fifteen species in 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 ...

''Scotophilus''.

Description

The African yellow bat is a medium sized, rather attractive bat with a dog-like snout. It is light brown above with a yellow belly, its eyes are clearly visible and its snout is short and broad. The wings vary in colour and may be olive, grey or red while the

interfemoral membrane The patagium (: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flying. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, theropod dinosaurs (including ...

is brown and translucent. The total body length averages , the forearm length is and its average weight is .

Distribution

The African yellow bat is native to

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

, where it occurs from

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

and

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

east to

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

, and

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

south to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, where they reach the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

Habitat

This species lives in

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

habitat, and it can be found near human habitation, where it roosts in houses. It may roost singly or in small colonies.

Habits

African yellow bats mate in the

Austral Autumn Austral means 'southern', often in reference to the Southern Hemisphere. Austral may also refer to: Businesses * Austral Airlines, a list of airlines named Austral *Austral (bus manufacturer) Austral was an Australian bus manufacturer in ...

in southern Africa and then give birth to twins towards the end of November or early December in the

Austral Spring Austral means 'southern', often in reference to the Southern Hemisphere. Austral may also refer to: Businesses * Austral Airlines, a list of airlines named Austral *Austral (bus manufacturer), a defunct Australian bus body manufacturer Educati ...

. The young are able to fend for themselves from quite a young age, the females wean then within weeks of birth. African yellow bats show a strong faithfulness to roost sites. African yellow bats red during the day in hollows and cracks of large trees, their colonies rarely consisted of more than 12 individuals. Roosts are often situated in secluded spots in cracks in walls and roofs and as a result they have become frequent in suburbia. The roosts are normally very quiet and any households who host them are usually blissfully unaware of its presence. They do not normally fly out of the roost until total darkness has descended and they normally feed until they have satiated themselves, usually for around two hours before returning. They sometimes share roosts with the smaller

Cape serotine The Cape serotine (''Laephotis capensis'') is a species of vesper bat occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa. 'Serotine' is from Latin 'serotinus' meaning 'of the evening'. It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Repub ...

, from which it may be distinguished by its larger wing size and faster flight. They prey mostly on

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

s, but also plant-sucking bugs,

flies Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwin ...

, flying

termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

s and

lacewing The Hemerobiiformia are a suborder of insects in the order Neuroptera that include most of the lacewings, antlions and their allies. The phylogeny of the Neuroptera was explored in 2014 using mitochondrial DNA sequences. The results indicate t ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1833054 Scotophilus Mammals described in 1833 Bats of Africa Taxonomy articles created by Polbot