The Philippine naked-backed fruit bat or Philippine bare-backed fruit bat (''Dobsonia chapmani'') is a
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 ...
that mostly lives on
Negros Island
Negros is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . Negros is one of the many islands of the Visayas, in the central part of the country. The predominant inhabitants of the island region a ...
. Two small populations were also found on
Cebu Island
Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the P ...
in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. Like other bare-backed fruit bats, its
wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...
s meet along the midline of their bodies, making it a very agile flier. It roosted in
cave
A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
s, in areas where little light penetrated the gloom. It was so abundant once that it left piles of
guano
Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...
, which were used by miners as fertilizer.
By the mid-1980s, the lowland forest was replaced by
sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...
plantations and the bat vanished. In 1996 the species was declared extinct by the
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
, as none had been sighted since 1964, but the bat was rediscovered in 2000. The species now survives in very small numbers. The bat lives in caves and comes out at night to eat fruits from local rainforests. After the forests were cut down to make way for sugar plantations the bat population dropped drastically, and the few remaining ones are still hunted for their meat. Now the bats reside in the few areas of remaining forest, and if these are cut down, the species is likely to go extinct. The forest where the bats live in
Cebu
Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...
is protected in that it cannot be cut down, but there are no conservation measures on
Negros
Negros is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . Negros is one of the many islands of the Visayas, in the central part of the country. The predominant inhabitants of the island region a ...
.
Physical description
''Dobsonia chapmani'' is a large fruit bat that lives in Southeastern Asia in the Philippines and the surrounding islands.
[Johanna Hamburger (2010-10-25]
Petition to list 15 bat species under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq.)
wildearthguardians.org It measures 218–221 mm from nose to tail and weighs 125–143 g. The wings of this bat connect to the midline of the back giving it a naked/furless appearance.
[Synopsis of Philippine Mammals](_blank)
The Field Museum (2010)
Group size
The density of this species is unknown; in the past, the size of the colonies would rarely exceed 300-400 individuals.
Habitat
The bat prefers limestone caves in the forest. The forest habitats, consist of naturally open and shrubby native vegetation such as: batino (''
Alstonia macrophylla
''Alstonia macrophylla'', the hard alstonia, hard milkwood or big-leaved macrophyllum, is a species of plant in the family Apocynaceae.
Distribution
It is native to Indonesia (Kalimantan and Sulawesi), Malaysia, the Philippines ( Tagalog: ''bati ...
''), hindunganon (''Macaranga'' sp.), tubug (''
Ficus septica
''Ficus septica'' (called Hauili in the Philippines, 稜果榕 in Taiwan) is a shrub or tree of the family Moraceae living at low altitudes from northeast India to north Australia (Queensland), and throughout Malesia.
It lives on the edge of th ...
''), and matamban (''Mallotus'' sp.), which grow on steep slopes. For food, the bat also utilizes the surrounding agricultural clearings that are planted with
abacá
Abacá ( ; fil, Abaka ), binomial name ''Musa textilis'', is a species of banana native to the Philippines, grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. The plant, also known as Manila hemp, has great economic impor ...
(''Musa textiles''), gabi (''
Colocasia esculenta
Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in African ...
''), and coconuts (''
Cocos nucifera
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...
'').
Only about 60 ha. remain of forested land for this species, all of which is outside of the protected
Central Cebu National Park.
[
]
Diet
As the name implies this species eats many kinds of fruit, so they act as an important species for seed dispersal.
Conservation
The species was previously thought to be extinct due to three common threats. The first was overharvesting for meat due to its large size. The second was deforestation, which was inevitable because of the growing human population. The last factor was the lack of protection for the habitat of this species, except for a few minor areas in the Carmen municipality.
Climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
may disrupt breeding seasons and affect the limited habitat of the species and it may also be threatened by low genetic diversity
Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species, it ranges widely from the number of species to differences within species and can be attributed to the span of survival for a species. It is dis ...
due to the population bottleneck
A population bottleneck or genetic bottleneck is a sharp reduction in the size of a population due to environmental events such as famines, earthquakes, floods, fires, disease, and droughts; or human activities such as specicide, widespread violen ...
that occurs at low population density.[L.-M. J., Pedregosa M. G. and Rabor Paguntalan (1952) “The Philippine Bare-Backed Fruit Bat Dobsonia chapmani”]
In the Carmen municipality on Cebu Island the local government has formed a group of environmental protection coordinators who patrol and report violations in the habitat of the Philippines naked backed fruit bat. The duty of these coordinators is to survey cave "sanctuaries", as named by the municipal government, and report changes in the habitat and hunting of bats. A reforestation project is underway as well. Many other towns are following in Carmen's footsteps by becoming proactive in saving this bat. There is also a law that applies to both of the islands, which is the Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act. This Act, among other objectives, conserves and protects wildlife and their habitat. This species is also known as a flagship species
In conservation biology, a flagship species is a species chosen to raise support for biodiversity conservation in a given place or social context. Definitions have varied, but they have tended to focus on the strategic goals and the socio-economi ...
in many areas in which it lives. In 2013, Bat Conservation International
Bat Conservation International (BCI) is an international nongovernmental organization working to conserve bats and their habitats through conservation, education, and research efforts.
BCI was founded in 1982 by bat biologist Merlin Tuttle, who ...
listed this species as one of the 35 species of its worldwide priority list of conservation.
References
Further reading
* ''A Gap in Nature'' (2001) Tim Flannery and Peter Schouten. William Heinemann.
* “Key Conservation Sites in the Philippines”. (2001) Mallari, N. D., Tabaranza Jr., B. R. and Crosby, M..
{{Taxonbar, from=Q301434
Dobsonia
Bats of Southeast Asia
Endemic fauna of the Philippines
Mammals of the Philippines
Fauna of Cebu
Fauna of Negros Island
Critically endangered fauna of Asia
Mammals described in 1952