Wroughton's Free-tailed Bat
| Wroughton's free-tailed bat | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Molossidae |
| Genus: | Otomops |
| Species: | O. wroughtoni |
| Binomial name | |
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Otomops wroughtoni (Thomas, 1913) |
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Wroughton's free-tailed bat (Otomops wroughtoni) is a free-tailed bat formerly considered to be confined to the Western Ghats area of India, though it has also recently been discovered in northeast India and in a remote part of Cambodia. It was listed as a critically endangered species due to habitat loss and a restricted range.
In India, the species is found in two locations in the southern Indian state of Karnataka and in Meghalaya in northeast India. In Karnataka, it is found in the Barapede Caves, located between Krishnapur and Talewadi, in Belgaum district, adjacent to the Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary near the state of Goa and was the only known location of this species for years. In 2000 it was reported from Cambodia. In Meghalaya, it was recently discovered in 2001 in Siju cave near Nongrai village, Shella confederacy proximately midway between the previous two locality records.
There is a foraging record of a single specimen from Meghalaya collected in 2001. Since then, there is no record of sighting and/or collection of this species from that locality in Meghalaya in northeastern India. Therefore, J.R.B. Alfred states in 2006 that the distribution record of this species from Meghalaya needs confirmation and authentication. On the other hand, the sighting of the colony/collection records of this species were reported at different times by Topal and Ramkrishna (1980), Bates (1992), Mistry and Parab (2001), and Ramakrina and Pradhan (2003). Pending further confirmation and authentication of the distribution of this species from Meghalaya in northeastern India, the distribution of Otomops wroughtoni in India should be restricted to a single locality record from Karnataka state. In February 2014, Manuel Ruedi et al. discover three new colonies of the species in Meghalaya. They report that these roosts represents near one hundred individuals, which doubles the known population size of this bat.
Members of the family Molossidae roost in caves, hollow trees and human-made structures. Populations of this bat have been found in large natural caves, situated near forested areas.
SIZE: Head and body length: 60–103 mm (average for genus) Tail length: 30–50 mm (average for genus) Forearm length: 63–67 mm Weight: Male: approx. 36 g Female: approx. 27 g This species has large forward pointing ears connected to each other by a membrane over the forehead. The face is naked and the nostril pad is large and prominent. The hair is short and velvety. It is a rich dark brown colour on the crown of the head, back and rump. There is a thin white border on each flank, extending from the armpit to the groin, and on the membranes of the forearms. The shoulders and the nape of the neck are a pale greyish white. The ventral surface is a dull brown, but with a contrasting grey collar, which extends onto the chin and upper chest. A small throat sac is present in both sexes. The tail projects far beyond the free edge of the narrow tail membrane, hence the common name “free-tailed bats” for this family.
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