Geoffroy's horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus clivosus'') 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 bi ...

in the family Rhinolophidae found in Africa. Its natural habitats are

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

, Mediterranean-type

shrubby vegetation A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

, caves and other subterranean habitats, and hot deserts.

Taxonomy

Geoffroy's horseshoe bat was described as a new species in 1828 by German scientist

Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar (11 June 1786 – 4 May 1845) was a German physician and natural science, natural scientist. Cretzschmar was born at Sulzbach, Hesse, Sulzbach and studied medicine at the University of Würzburg. He taught anatomy and z ...

. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

was collected in Mohila, Saudi Arabia. In 2012, ''Rhinolophus clivosus'' was split into an additional species with the recognition of '' Rhinolophus horaceki''. Further division may occur, as the same 2012 studynoted five distinct genetic lineages within ''R. clivosus''.

Description

It is considered medium-sized for an African horseshoe bat, with forearm lengths of and weights of .

Biology and ecology

It has one breeding season each year. Gestation length is around 3.5 months, after which one offspring is born. Differing levels of sociality have been observed. In Algeria, individuals roost alone or in small groups less than 50 individuals. In southern Africa and Malawi, however, groups of up to 10,000 individuals have been documented roosting together in a colony. Roosts are typically mixed sex, as females do not form maternity colonies to raise young.

Range

Geoffroy's horseshoe bat occurs widely throughout Africa, with its range extending into the Arabian Peninsula. It is found in a variety of habitats, including desert, savanna woodland,

Mediterranean shrubland 220px, Low maquis in Corsica 220px, High ''macchia'' in Sardinia ( , , ) or ( , ; often in Italian; hr, makija; ; ) is a shrubland biome in the Mediterranean region, typically consisting of densely growing evergreen shrubs. Maquis is char ...

, and grassland.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1766315 Rhinolophidae Mammals described in 1828 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Bats of Africa Taxa named by Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar Bats of Asia