Rhinopoma hardwickei
| Lesser mouse-tailed bat | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Rhinopomatidae |
| Genus: | Rhinopoma |
| Species: | R. hardwickii |
| Binomial name | |
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Rhinopoma hardwickii Gray, 1831 |
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| Lesser mouse-tailed bat range | |
| Synonyms | |
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Rhinopoma hadithaensis Khajuria, 1988 |
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Rhinopoma hadithaensis Khajuria, 1988
The lesser mouse-tailed bat (Rhinopoma hardwickii) is a species of bat in the family Rhinopomatidae. Also referred to as Hardwicke's lesser mouse-tailed bat and long-tailed bat, it is named after Major General Thomas Hardwicke (1755–1835), an English soldier and naturalist who served many years in India. It is found in North Africa, some parts of central and eastern Africa, West Asia and east to the Indian subcontinent.
The lesser mouse-tailed bat is a small bat with a long thin tail resembling that of a mouse, hence its name. It is covered with soft fur on the body, greyish to dark brown in colour, but not on its face, rear abdomen and rump. The lower parts are paler in colour.
The snout of the lesser mouse-tailed bat has a small triangular shaped nose leaf. The large rhomboid-shaped ears have transverse ridges across the pinna and are connected across the forehead with well developed tragi. The uropatagium (flap of skin between the hindlimbs) is small and envelops less than a fourth part of the tail.
The head and body length of the bat ranges from 62 to 71 millimetres (2.4 to 2.8 in) while the tail is 57 to 70 millimetres (2.2 to 2.8 in) long. Other lengths are as follows:
The lesser mouse-tailed bat has a short skull, with a loose tympanic bone and inflated lacrimal region and which is broadest at the squamosal region of the zygomatic arch. It has 28 teeth. The dentition is as follows: 1/2, 1/1, 1/2, 3/3.
The lesser mouse-tailed bat has the following subspecies:
R. macinnesi, found in East Africa, was earlier considered as a subspecies of R. hardwickii by some authorities.
The lesser mouse-tailed bat is found in the following countries :
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Wikipedia