Khajuria's leaf-nosed bat (''Hipposideros durgadasi''), also known as Durga Das's leaf-nosed bat, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). 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 birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Hipposideridae The Hipposideridae are a family (biology), family of bats commonly known as the Old World leaf-nosed bats. While it has often been seen as a subfamily, Hipposiderinae, of the family Rhinolophidae, it is now more generally classified as its own fa ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to India. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, 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 manifestation of its ...

is caves. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

Taxonomy

The bat was formerly considered a subspecies of '' H. cineraceus'' by Blyth in 1853, but is now commonly considered a distinct species. The species was first recognized as a separate species by Topál in 1975. It belongs to the bicolor species group. The holotype was collected from the Jabalpur district of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

in 1970.

Description

The fur is soft and brown to reddish-brown on the

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

surface and whitish on the

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

surface. The bat, like other species in the bicolor group, lacks supplementary leaflets. The anterior leaf possesses a median emargination and is covered everywhere with short, stiff black hair. The internarial septum is well-developed and has a short base and a bulbous apex. The nostrils are oval in shape and they possess narial lappets on the outer margin. The tail of the bat projects beyond the interfemoral membrane, and the baculum is 1.3mm long, with a C- shape. The presence of a well-developed internarial septum of peculiar shape (with a short base and a bulbous apex), the fact that the tail projects beyond the interfemoral membrane, and the conspicuous C-shape of the baculum are some of the characters of ''H. durgadasi'' which render this species distinct from its sister species.

Biology

Diet

The bat feeds on beetles, crickets, and other small insects.

Echolocation

The bat echolocates at a frequency of 168.4–175.7 kHz. This is a much higher frequency than ''H.'' ''cineraceus,'' despite the bat being larger than the latter species.

Habitat and distribution

The bat is endemic to India and known from the villages of Katangi, Katanga and Richhai in the district of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and the villages of Hanumanahalli and Therahalli in the

Kolar Kolar may refer to: Places India * Kolar, Karnataka, a city in India **Kolar Assembly constituency *Kolar district, in Karnataka, India *Kolar Gold Fields, former gold mines in Karnataka, India **KGF (disambiguation) **Kolar Gold Field Assembly co ...

district of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. In 1998, a team from the Zoological Survey of India also found 9 individuals in a roost site in Loyudhan Falls in the Mirzapur district of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. However, specimens of ''H. durgadasi'' have not been spotted in the original type locality for almost 30 years. The bat's known range extends over 114,335 km², however, the bat only occupies around 2,000 km² of that. It inhabits areas from 347 to 900 m above sea level. The bat roosts in colonies of several individuals in cave systems and is also found roosting below large granite boulders and in caves. It has been observed roosting with other species of bat, but has also been found to roost purely with members of its own species in a cave. The bat mainly forages in dry tropical deciduous forest and tropical thorn forest.

Conservation

The bat is listed as vulnerable by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

because of its limited area of occupancy, its scattered and limited population, the continuing decrease in its population, and continuing degradation of its habitat. The main threat to the bat is that of habitat loss caused by stone

quarrying A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their s ...

operations. The roosting caves in the Kolar district are especially threatened due to illegal granite mining, which occurs only a couple hundred feet away from the bat's roosts. The bat may also face threats from general roost disturbance. The bat is not protected by any legal bill or agreement, and the habitat of the bat does not overlap with any protected areas. However, further studies are need to ascertain the true range of this species, as some populations may be confused with populations of ''H. cineraceus'', ''H. ater'' and ''ater'' like taxa.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q308486 Mammals of India Hipposideros Mammals described in 1970 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Bats of Asia