Salim Ali's fruit bat

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Salim Ali's fruit bat
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Pteropodidae
Genus: Latidens
Thonglongya, 1972
Species:
L. salimalii
Binomial name
Latidens salimalii
Thonglongya, 1972
Salim Ali's Fruit Bat range

Salim Ali's fruit bat (Latidens salimalii) is a rare

Salim Ali
in 1972.

Description

It is medium-sized and has no external

palatal ridges. The rostrum is long and narrow and the palate is very long especially postdental portion. Post orbital foramina are absent. Incisors 1 pair and peg like, cheek teeth brad. First premolars are very small and slightly exceeds the incisors in the crown area. Body length is 10 cm, hindfeet 0.8–1.5 cm, forearm 6.6 cm.[2]

It was observed that these bats eat fresh fruits of

Ficus macrocarpa (Indian laurel fig) and Ficus beddomei (Thavital, a strangler fig).[3]

Range

The first description of the bat was from a single specimen collected at an altitude of 750 meters in the High Wavy Mountains of the Annamalai Western Ghats, Theni district, Tamil Nadu, South India.

In 2002 the Indian government added the

Wildlife Protection Act, affording these two species the highest level of protection. The other 112 species of bats in India were not affected.[4]

Conservation

Salim Ali's fruit bat was listed as

critically endangered in 1996, and has been considered an endangered species since 2004. It meets the criteria for this designation because of its small population size of fewer than 1,000 individuals. Additionally, it is experiencing population decline, with the population expected to contract by a further 20% by 2032 due to hunting for bushmeat, loss and degradation of caves, and deforestation.[1]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Latidens salimalii.
  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T11374A22103756.en
    . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ Salim Ali's fruit bat (Latidens salmalii) Archived 2008-12-03 at the Wayback Machine. ARKive
  3. JSTOR 24107368
    .
  4. ^ "No Longer Vermin". Bat Conservation International Newsletter, Vol 2, No. 2 (February 2003)
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