The Chinese rufous horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus sinicus'') 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 ...
in the family
Rhinolophidae. It is found in
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
,
China,
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 ...
,
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
, and
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
.
The species is most easily confused with ''
R. affinis'', from which it is best distinguished by its straight-sided lancet and the relatively short second phalanx of the third digit (< 66% of the length of the
metacarpal
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 ar ...
; Csorba ''et al''. 2003).
Subspecies
''Rhinolophus sinicus'' is divided into the following two subspecies:
* ''R. s. septentrionalis''
* ''R. s. sinicus''
Description
The Chinese rufous horseshoe bat has a forearm length of . It has an ear length of and a tail length of . Overall, it is considered a medium-sized horseshoe bat. It is similar in appearance to the
rufous horseshoe bat
The rufous horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus rouxii'') is a species of bat in the family Rhinolophidae. It is found in China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.
It has been identified as a vector of severe acute respiratory syndrome co ...
, though with longer wings. While also similar to
Thomas's horseshoe bat, it is slightly larger. The fur on its back is bicolored: the basal two-thirds of individual hairs are brownish-white, while the tips of the hairs are reddish brown. Its belly fur is paler in color and is brownish-white.
Biology and ecology
The Chinese rufous horseshoe bat is a social animal, forming
colonies
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
of a few individuals up to several hundred. During the reproductive season, the sexes segregate, with females forming
maternity colonies.
Additionally this species is a food source of the parasite ''
Sinospelaeobdella'', a
jawed land leech. They roost in caves, often with other bat species.
Conservation status
Chinese rufous horseshoe bats are a
least-concern species
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
, assessed by the Red List of Threatened Species on the basis that it has fairly wide distribution and is locally common in southeast Asia. The species is not listed in the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife in 1989.
Disease
Bats of this species form the natural reservoir of ''
severe acute respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus
''Severe acute respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus'' (SARSr-CoV or SARS-CoV)The terms ''SARSr-CoV'' and ''SARS-CoV'' are sometimes used interchangeably, especially prior to the discovery of SARS-CoV-2. This may cause confusion when some ...
''. An example of one particular strain present is
Bat SARS-like coronavirus WIV1
Bat SARS-like coronavirus WIV1 (Bat SL-CoV-WIV1), also sometimes called SARS-like coronavirus WIV1, is a strain of '' severe acute respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus'' (SARSr-CoV) isolated from Chinese rufous horseshoe bats in 2013 ('' Rh ...
.
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1767536
Rhinolophidae
Bats of China
Mammals of Nepal
Mammals described in 1905
Taxa named by Knud Andersen
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot