Roberts's flat-headed bat (''Sauromys petrophilus'') is a species of
free-tailed bat
The Molossidae, or free-tailed bats, are a family of bats within the order Chiroptera.
The Molossidae is the fourth-largest family of bats, containing about 110 species as of 2012. They are generally quite robust, and consist of many strong-flyi ...
native to southern Africa. It is the
only species in the genus ''Sauromys''. The scientific name translates as "rock loving lizard-mouse",
[ while the common name honours Austin Roberts, who first described the species.
]
Description
Roberts's flat-headed bat is a moderately sized free-tailed bat, measuring about in total length, including a tail, and a wingspan of . They weigh from . The body is light grey-brown to dark brown, with creamy-white underparts. The ears are oval in shape, and rise from a common point on the head, unlike those of the closely related genus ''Mormopterus
''Mormopterus'' is a genus of molossid microchiropterans, small flying mammals referred to as free-tailed bats. The genus has been the subject of several revisions, and the diversity of taxa centred on Australia were separated to a new genus ''O ...
''. As the common name suggests, the head is unusually flat, without any sagittal crest
A sagittal crest is a ridge of bone running lengthwise along the midline of the top of the skull (at the sagittal suture) of many mammalian and reptilian skulls, among others. The presence of this ridge of bone indicates that there are exceptiona ...
. The bat can also be distinguished from many other fee-tailed bats by the lack of a scent gland on the throat of males. The wing area has been measured at , with an aspect ratio of 7.6 to 8.3 and a wing loading
In aerodynamics, wing loading is the total mass of an aircraft or flying animal divided by the area of its wing. The stalling speed of an aircraft in straight, level flight is partly determined by its wing loading. An aircraft or animal with a ...
of about 12 N/m2.
Distribution and habitat
Roberts's flat-headed bat is found in southern Africa from far western Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
and eastern Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
, through northern and western South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
and southern Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
, to western Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
and possibly the south-western corner of Angola
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. Within this region, it inhabits dry 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 ...
, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, and rocky areas.
Behaviour and biology
The bats are nocturnal, and are often caught over water, where they feed primarily on beetle
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
s, bugs, and Hymenoptera
Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...
n insects. To a lesser extent, they also feed on soft-bodied insects, such as moth
Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...
s, flies
Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...
, and Neuroptera
The insect order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order consists of some 6,000 species. Neuroptera can be grouped together with the Megaloptera and Raphidioptera in th ...
ns. They use frequency modulated
Frequency modulation (FM) is the encoding of information in a carrier wave by varying the instantaneous frequency of the wave. The technology is used in telecommunications, radio broadcasting, signal processing, and computing.
In analog freq ...
narrow band calls with a frequency that ranges from 27 to 44 kHz.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q137619
Mammals described in 1917
Mammals of Botswana
Mammals of Namibia
Mammals of South Africa
Mammals of Zimbabwe
Molossidae
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot