''Nycteris'' comprises a genus 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 ...

s commonly called slit-faced or hollow-faced bats. They are grouped in the family Nycteridae. The bats are found in

East Malaysia East Malaysia (), or the Borneo States, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia on and near the island of Borneo, the world's third-largest island. Near the coast of Sabah is a small archipelago called Labuan. East Malaysia li ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, and many parts of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Description

They are small bats, from in body length, and with grey, brown, or reddish fur. The skull is distinguished by a characteristic interorbital concavity, externally connected to a long slit that runs down the centre of their faces from between the eyes to the nostrils, and probably assists in echolocation. They have large ears, and a complex

nose-leaf A nose-leaf, or leaf nose, is an often large, lance-shaped nose, found in bats of the Phyllostomidae, 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 su ...

. Their tails end in a T-shape, formed from cartilage, a unique feature among mammals. Their

dental formula Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiolo ...

is: Nycterids have a reduction of the hand

phalanges The phalanges (singular: ''phalanx'' ) are digital bones in the hands and feet of most vertebrates. In primates, the thumbs and big toes have two phalanges while the other digits have three phalanges. The phalanges are classed as long bones. ...

: the 2nd digit has only

metacarpus In human anatomy, the metacarpal bones or metacarpus form the intermediate part of the skeletal hand located between the phalanges of the fingers and the carpal bones of the wrist, which forms the connection to the forearm. The metacarpal bones ...

, and the 3rd only two phalanges. The

pectoral girdle The shoulder girdle or pectoral girdle is the set of bones in the appendicular skeleton which connects to the arm on each side. In humans it consists of the clavicle and scapula; in those species with three bones in the shoulder, it consists of t ...

has parallel features to birds. The

sternum The sternum or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels from injury. Sh ...

is strongly developed and the mesosternum has a

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

Habitat and biology

Slit-faced bats inhabit rainforests and savanna, and roost in caves, trees, and buildings, typically in fairly small colonies. Some even roost in animal burrows, such as those of

hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introducti ...

aardvarks The aardvark ( ; ''Orycteropus afer'') is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata, although other prehistoric species and genera of Tubulidentata are known. Unlik ...

porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethizont ...

s. They eat insects, and some terrestrial invertebrates, such as spiders and small scorpions. At least one species, the

large slit-faced bat The large slit-faced bat (''Nycteris grandis'') is a species of slit-faced bat with a broad distribution in forest and savanna habitats in West, Central, and East Africa. ''N. marica'' (Kershaw, 1923), is the available name for the southern savan ...

, even catches vertebrate prey, such as frogs and small birds. The echolocation calls of slit-faced bats are relatively quiet and short in duration, and they seem to target their prey by hearing the sounds it produces, rather than by sonar. They give birth once or twice each year.

Distribution

The genus ''Nycteris'' is found in the Afrotropics and the adjacent areas of

Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and

Oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...

realms.

Classification

Most sources report 13 species. However, 16 have been described. Those of indeterminate status are marked with "?" in the list below. Family Nycteridae *Genus ''Nycteris'' ** Bate's slit-faced bat, ''N. arge'' ** Andersen's slit-faced bat, ''N. aurita'' ** Gambian slit-faced bat, ''N. gambiensis'' **

Large slit-faced bat The large slit-faced bat (''Nycteris grandis'') is a species of slit-faced bat with a broad distribution in forest and savanna habitats in West, Central, and East Africa. ''N. marica'' (Kershaw, 1923), is the available name for the southern savan ...

, ''N. grandis'' ** Hairy slit-faced bat, ''N. hispida'' ***''N. h. hispida'' ***''N. h. pallida'' ** Intermediate slit-faced bat, ''N. intermedia'' ** Javan slit-faced bat, ''N. javanica'' ** Large-eared slit-faced bat, ''N. macrotis'' ***''N. m.aethiopica'' ***''N. m. macrotis'' ***''N. m.luteola'' ** Malagasy slit-faced bat, ''N. madagascariensis'' ** Ja slit-faced bat, ''N. major'' ***''N. m. avakubia'' ***''N. m. major'' **

Dwarf slit-faced bat The dwarf slit-faced bat (''Nycteris nana'') is a species of slit-faced bat living in forest and savanna regions of Central Africa. Two subspecies have been identified: ''N. n. nana'' and ''N. n. tristis''. The bat's range goes from Côte d'Ivo ...

, ''N. nana'' ***''N. n.nana'' ***''N. n.tristis'' **

Egyptian slit-faced bat The Egyptian slit-faced bat (''Nycteris thebaica'') is a species of slit-faced bat broadly distributed throughout Africa and the Middle East. It is a species of microbat in the family Nycteridae. Six subspecies are known. Description The Egypt ...

, ''N. thebaica'' ***''N. t. adana'' ***''N. t. albiventer'' ***''N. t. capensis'' ***''N. t. damarensis'' ***''N. t. najdiya'' ***''N. t. thebaica'' ** Malayan slit-faced bat, ''N. tragata'' ** Parissi's slit-faced bat, ''N. parisii'' ? ** Vinson's slit-faced bat, ''N. vinsoni'' ** Wood's slit-faced bat, ''N. woodi''

References

Data from funet.ni
* IUCN 2006
2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Downloaded on 13 April 2007.

Description

Habitat and biology

Distribution

Classification

References

Further reading