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

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". 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 ...

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 ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''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 (plural: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flight. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, birds, some dromaeosaurs ...

is brown and translucent. The total body length averages 130 mm, the forearm length is 50–58 mm and its average weight is 23g.

Distribution

The African yellow bat is native to Sub-Saharan Africa, where it occurs from

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

and Gambia east to

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti 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 ...

, Eritrea, and

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

south to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, where they reach the Eastern Cape.

Habitat

This species lives in

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

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 in southern Africa and then give birth to twins towards the end of November or early December in the Austral Spring. 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, 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 order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s, but also plant-sucking bugs,

flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced m ...

, flying

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blatto ...

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

s and lacewings.

References

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