Cheiromeles

The Naked bats ( Cheiromeles ) is a bat species from the family of bulldog bats ( Molossidae ). As the only bat species they are almost completely hairless.

Features

Naked bats reach a body length 10-15 inches, which must be added a 5 to 7 centimeters long tail comes. Your weight is 75-200 gram. The coat is completely degenerated down to fine hairs on the head and the tail wing membrane, only a throat pouch that produces a strictly smelling secretion, they have bristle-like hairs. The thick, elastic skin is colored black or dark brown. The head is characterized as with all Bulldog bats by a short, broad muzzle, but they have smooth lips and clearly separate ears.

Another special feature of these bats are the bags is to the body sides, into which they can insert their wings with the hind legs. This allows them to crawl in comparison with other bats well with all four limbs.

Dissemination and lifestyle

Naked Bats are native to Southeast Asia, their range extends from the Malay Peninsula to Indonesia and the southern Philippines.

When resting places serve them hollow logs, rock crevices and holes in the ground. They form large colonies of up to 20,000 animals. You spend a lot of time, climb around in their shelter and to find a suitable place to sleep. At dusk and at night they go in search of food, where they sometimes staying close to the ground even in larger groups. Their diet consists of insects.

The female gives birth to usually two pups. The teats are located near the wing pockets, previously conjectured that these bats is carried around their young. Rather, they should however be left behind during the search for food in the shelter.

The types

The genre of the nude bats divided into two types:

• Cheiromeles parvidens is 75 to 100 grams, the smaller of the two species and characterized by their dark brown skin. The species is known from Sulawesi and neighboring islands as well as the Philippine island of Mindoro.
• Cheiromeles torquatus has a black skin and reaches 170 to 200 grams. The species lives on the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and Java and the southern Philippines.