The Egyptian slit-faced bat (''Nycteris thebaica'') 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 ...

slit-faced bat ''Nycteris'' comprises a genus of bats commonly called slit-faced or hollow-faced bats. They are grouped in the family Nycteridae. The bats are found in East Malaysia, Indonesia, and many parts of Africa. Description They are small bats, from i ...

broadly distributed throughout

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 ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. It is a species of

microbat Microbats constitute the suborder Microchiroptera within the order Chiroptera ( bats). Bats have long been differentiated into Megachiroptera (megabats) and Microchiroptera, based on their size, the use of echolocation by the Microchiroptera an ...

in the family Nycteridae. Six subspecies are known.

Description

The Egyptian slit-faced bat gets its name from a deep slit that runs from the base of the ears to the nostrils, between the nose leaves. The bats typically weigh , with females weighing up to . The wings are broad, with a wingspan of and a low aspect ratio, allowing for high maneuverability and the ability to hover close to the ground. The dorsal surface is dusky to reddish brown, while the underside is white to whitish gray. This bat has lighter fur than other members of the nycterid family. It has a long tail, reaching to .

Distribution and habitat

This species is able to thrive in a variety of

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

and

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

habitats throughout

and the Arabian peninsula. A specimen of an Egyptian silt-faced bat was found on the island of Corfu,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

; making it the first record of the animal in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. It can live in widely diverse

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s, including

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s, deserts,

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 ...

s, shrublands, and

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 na ...

Reproduction

The

uterine horns The uterine horns (cornua of uterus) are the points in the upper uterus where the fallopian tubes exit to meet the ovaries. They are one of the points of attachment for the round ligament of uterus (the other being the mons pubis). They also prov ...

open into the

vagina In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen ...

through separate

vaginal canal In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hyme ...

s, forming a uterus duplex. The

placenta The placenta is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas and waste exchange between the physically separate mate ...

also lacks a hemophagous area, a structure which aids in endocytosis and digestion of

erythrocytes Red blood cells (RBCs), also referred to as red cells, red blood corpuscles (in humans or other animals not having nucleus in red blood cells), haematids, erythroid cells or erythrocytes (from Greek ''erythros'' for "red" and ''kytos'' for "holl ...

. The gestation period varies depending on climate, lasting 2–3 months in tropical areas, while lasting up to 5 months in temperate climates. At birth, this species weighs about 50% of the mother’s weight. The females fly, carrying their young, between roosts to keep them safe from predators.

Physiology

Unlike most bats, ''N. thebaica'' is not heterothermic, displaying no evidence of hibernation or

torpor Torpor is a state of decreased physiological activity in an animal, usually marked by a reduced body temperature and metabolic rate. Torpor enables animals to survive periods of reduced food availability. The term "torpor" can refer to the time ...

behaviors. One explanation for this might be that hibernation makes ''N. thebaica'' highly vulnerable to predation. In particular, the large slit-faced bat is known to prey on roosting Egyptian slit-faced bats.

Behavior

Egyptian slit-faced bats form roosting colonies numbering from a few to thousands of other members. Because they can maneuver in crowded habitats, they are able to occupy caves and holes that cannot be accessed by other bat species. While the bats do form a communal roost, individuals do not huddle together to conserve energy and warmth. They occupy two roosts, using the daytime roost to rest, while only spending a few hours in the night roost before going out to forage. They have a long-night foraging period, lasting several hours. The bats use high-frequency and low-intensity echolocation calls to locate prey. The low wing loading and low aspect ratio allows them to hover and swipe prey from the ground or from the tops of trees. They are generalist-opportunistic feeders, meaning they consume a wide range of prey, according to prey availability and season. The different insect groups these bats tend to consume are: Coleoptera during the spring, Orthoptera during the summer, Hemiptera in autumn, and Lepidoptera during the winter. Insects comprise the bulk o this bat's diet; this flexible diet allows them to thrive in a wide variety of habitats. ''N. thebaica'' is observed to have a relatively long lifespan, with captive females surviving at least five years. While juvenile bats have a high mortality rate, after the first year, the species has a high rate of survival.

Subspecies

*''N. t. adana'' *''N. t. albiventer'' *''N. t. capensis'' *''N. t. damarensis'' *''N. t. najdiya'' *''N. t. thebaica''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1830648 Bats of Africa Bats of Asia Nycteridae Mammals described in 1818