The trident bat or trident leaf-nosed bat (''Asellia tridens'') is a species of

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

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, 20 ...

. It is widely distributed in the Middle East, South and Central Asia, and North, East, and Central Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical

dry forest Dry or dryness most often refers to: * Lack of rainfall, which may refer to **Arid regions **Drought * Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages * Dry humor, deadpan * Dryness (medical) * ...

s, dry

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 ...

, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, caves and hot deserts.

Description

Individuals weigh and have forearm lengths of approximately .

Taxonomy

The trident bat was described as a new species in 1813 by French naturalist

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (15 April 177219 June 1844) was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theories ...

. Geoffroy placed it in the genus '' Rhinolophus'', with a scientific name of ''Rhinolophus tridens''.

Biology

After a gestation length of 10 weeks, females give birth in a three-week period in the end of June and beginning of July. The litter size for each female is one offspring, called a pup. Pups are relatively large at birth, weighing up to 30% of their mothers' weights (). Though hairless at birth with closed eyes, a sign of

altricial In biology, altricial species are those in which the young are underdeveloped at the time of birth, but with the aid of their parents mature after birth. Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the mome ...

offspring, their eyes open by three or four days old, and fur has started growing. For the first two or three days of life, the pup is latched to its mother's pubic nipple at all times. At three or four days old, mothers leave their pups at the roost at night so they can forage. Pups become volant (able to fly) at around three weeks old, and are totally weaned and independent by six or seven weeks old. Its predators include

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...

such as the

sooty falcon The sooty falcon (''Falco concolor'') is a medium-sized falcon breeding from northeastern Africa to the southern Persian Gulf region. The word sooty means to be covered in soot (ash), and is used to describe the color of the Sooty Falcon. Hence, ...

lanner falcon The lanner falcon (''Falco biarmicus'') is a medium-sized bird of prey that breeds in Africa, southeast Europe and just into Asia. It prefers open habitat and is mainly resident, but some birds disperse more widely after the breeding season. A l ...

, barn owl,

Pharaoh eagle-owl The Pharaoh eagle-owl (''Bubo ascalaphus'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is native to Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi ...

spotted eagle-owl The spotted eagle-owl (''Bubo africanus'') also known as the African spotted eagle-owl and the African eagle-owl, is a medium-sized species of owl, one of the smallest of the eagle owls. Its length is and its weight is from . It has a wingspan. ...

, and

Long-eared owl The long-eared owl (''Asio otus''), also known as the northern long-eared owlOlsen, P.D. & Marks, J.S. (2019). ''Northern Long-eared Owl (Asio otus)''. In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook o ...

Conservation

As of 2017, the trident bat is evaluated as a

least-concern species A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

by the IUCN. It meets the criteria for this classification due to its wide geographic range; presumably large population size; and the fact that it is not likely to be experiencing rapid population decline. Its range presumably encompasses several protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q305213 Asellia Mammals of Pakistan Mammals described in 1813 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Bats of Africa Bats of Asia