Cynopterus Sphinx
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The greater short-nosed fruit bat (''Cynopterus sphinx''), or short-nosed Indian fruit bat, is a species of
megabat Megabats constitute the family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera (bats). 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 su ...
in the family Pteropodidae found in South and Southeast Asia.


Description

These bats have a relatively long snout. Their upper parts are brown to grey-brown with paler under parts. The fur is very fine and silky. The ears and wing bones of ''C. sphinx'' are edged in white. Lower cheek teeth rounded without accessory cusps. The wingspan of the adult is about 48 cm. Juveniles are lighter than adults. Average forearm length is 70.2 mm (64–79 mm).


Habitat

The greater short-nosed fruit bat is found from Pakistan to Vietnam. It is common in
tropical forest Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical fores ...
s and areas where fruit crops are cultivated. They can also be found in
grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...
s and
mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...
forests. They typically nest high in palm trees. The bats chew the fronds of the palms to construct fairly simple tents. These bats are also known to construct tents by closely interweaving the leaves and twigs of creeping vines which cover buildings, but such nests are constructed only when palms are not available.


Behaviour and breeding

The greater short-nosed fruit bat is gregarious, and typically roosts in same-sex groups of eight to nine individuals. The sexes remain separate until the mating season, when group size increases. They are
polygynous Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...
and 6-10 males and 10-15 females usually share palm-frond tents during the breeding season. They are known to perform
fellatio Fellatio (also known as fellation, and in slang as blowjob, BJ, giving head, or sucking off) is an oral sex act involving a person stimulating the penis of another person by using the mouth, throat, or both. Oral stimulation of the scrotum may ...
, which enhances copulation time in the species.
Copulation Sexual intercourse (or coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion and thrusting of the penis into the vagina for sexual pleasure or reproduction.Sexual intercourse most commonly means penile–vaginal penetra ...
by males is dorsoventral and the females lick the shaft or the base of the male's penis, but not the glans which has already penetrated the vagina. While the females do this, the penis is not withdrawn and research has shown a positive relationship between length of the time that the penis is licked and the duration of copulation. Postcopulation genital grooming has also been observed. Males stay with females for some time after mating, but later return to same-sex groups. The adult
sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species devia ...
is very female biased. Researchers attribute this to the relatively rapid maturation of females compared to males. In
Central India Central India is a loosely defined geographical region of India. There is no clear official definition and various ones may be used. One common definition consists of the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, which are included in alm ...
, ''C. sphinx'' breeds twice per year. Females produce a single young at a time. Each half of the bicornate uterus functions during alternate breeding cycles. The first pregnancy cycle occurs from October through February/March. Mating occurs immediately ''
post partum The postpartum (or postnatal) period begins after childbirth and is typically considered to end within 6 weeks as the mother's body, including hormone levels and uterus size, returns to a non-pregnant state. The terms puerperium, puerperal perio ...
'', and a second offspring is born in July. Gestation period is about 3–5 months. In 72% of bats, the first pregnancy occurs in the right horn of the uterus. The
corpus luteum The corpus luteum (Latin for "yellow body"; plural corpora lutea) is a temporary endocrine structure in female ovaries involved in the production of relatively high levels of progesterone, and moderate levels of estradiol, and inhibin A. It is t ...
in the right
ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...
persists for some time after the pregnancy and prevents
ovulation Ovulation is the release of eggs from the ovaries. In women, this event occurs when the ovarian follicles rupture and release the secondary oocyte ovarian cells. After ovulation, during the luteal phase, the egg will be available to be fertilized ...
from occurring in the right ovary during the second breeding cycle. This creates the pattern of alternate functioning of the two horns of the uterus. However, the corpus luteum in the left ovary does not persist until the beginning of the next breeding cycle. As yet, no reason has been found for the dominance of the right horn during the first breeding cycle. Newborn bats weigh about 13.5 g and have a wingspan of 24 cm. By the time of weaning at 4 weeks of age, young bats weigh 25 g and have wings spanning 36 cm. Female short-nosed fruit bats reach sexual maturity at 5–6 months of age, but males are not capable of breeding until they are a year old. These bats are
frugivorous A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance and ...
, and locate their preferred food items by scent. They have been described as voracious feeders, eating more than their body weight in food in one sitting. Some preferred fruits include ripe
guava Guava () is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava ''Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the ...
,
banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
,
chikoo ''Manilkara zapota'', commonly known as sapodilla (), sapote, naseberry, nispero or chicle, is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatán in the ...
, dates, and
lychee Lychee (US: ; UK: ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a Monotypic taxon, monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the Sapindus, soapberry family, ''Sapindaceae''. It is a tropical tree native to Southeast and Southwest China (t ...
s. Short-nosed fruit bats inflict serious damage on many fruit crops, and are considered pests. In addition, these bats are possible vectors for
Japanese encephalitis Japanese encephalitis (JE) is an infection of the brain caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). While most infections result in little or no symptoms, occasional inflammation of the brain occurs. In these cases, symptoms may include he ...
, which is serious disease in humans. These bats are important dispersers of date palm seeds, and pollinate many night blooming flowers. They are also known to construct shelter tents by severing leaves and stems from certain creepers and mast trees like ''
Polyalthia longifolia ''Monoon longifolium'', the false ashoka, also commonly known by its synonym ''Polyalthia longifolia'', is an Asian small tree species in the family Annonaceae. It is native to southern India and Sri Lanka, but has been widely introduced els ...
''. Frugivory, nectarivory, and folivory are well understood; in addition, geophagy behaviour has also been reported in this species recently, and is suggested to represent an ‘adaptive behavioural plasticity’ in the foraging behaviour of the greater short-nosed fruit bat. According to Mahandran et al. geophagy have the function of mineral supplementation and/or detoxification.


References


Further reading

* Nowak, Ronald. 1991 Walker's Mammals of the World, Fifth edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London.


Gallery

Image:Greater short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx) feeding on Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) at night in Kolkata W IMG 3881.jpg, Feeding on kapok (''Ceiba pentandra'') at night in
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
,
West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
Image:Greater short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx) feeding on Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) at night in Kolkata W IMG 3877.jpg, Feeding on kapok at night in Kolkata Image:Greater short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx) feeding on Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) at night in Kolkata W IMG 3860.jpg , Feeding on kapok at night in Kolkata
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1340212 Cynopterus Bats of Asia Bats of South Asia Bats of Southeast Asia Bats of Indonesia Bats of Malaysia Mammals of Pakistan Mammals of Bangladesh Mammals of Sri Lanka Mammals of Myanmar Mammals described in 1797 Articles containing video clips Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Bats of India