Miniopterus sororculus is a species of bat endemic to the highland forests of Madagascar.
Diurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
Te
TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Among animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
Animal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individual animals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is the most common form of migrati...
M
starts withA medium-sized species of Miniopterus, the forearm being around 42 millimetres. The brown fur colour is dark and rich in tone, with longer and slightly silky hair over the upper parts. The pelage is quite dense over the entire body, the colour is somewhat paler at the ventral side and some individuals exhibit a medium brown colour at the dorsal parts. The tragus of Miniopterus sororculus is distinguished from sister taxa by its relatively long and curved form, extending 6 to 8 mm from the thickened base to its tip. In addition to the patagium of the wings, species of Miniopterus possess a uropatagium at the lower limbs, these membranes are a very dark and almost uniform brown colour.
The generation length of M. sororculus is estimated to around 5.5 years.
The population superficially resemble another Malagasy species, Miniopterus petersoni, first described shortly after the publication of this species. The external morphology of the two species indicates they have converged, which is supported by analysis of molecular evidence, but are distinguishable by features of the crania and external characteristics.
The type location and other sites first identified in the revision were in the highland of the island, at elevations greater than 800–900 metres asl to a height of 2200 metres. Occasional observations have been made of Miniopterus sororculus below 40 metres, and some recorded sites are elevations above 50 m, but the greater part of the area of occupancy is over 950 metres. The lower site records in the south of the island may be colonies formed in the breeding season or by migration from higher elevations. Most daytime roosts were in rocky crevice or sometimes deep caves that were adjacent to previously forested areas cleared for introduced plantation species, the species is also recorded at open habitat at Ihosy, a dry savannah of the central west region of the Madasgascar. Miniopterus sororculus has also been found roosting in the attic of an occupied building. The species often occurs in the same habitat with Miniopterus majori, and sometimes found cohabiting at their diurnal roosts.
The species is categorised as least concern by the IUCN red list, which notes their wide distribution across the Malgasy highlands and habitat coinciding with anthropogenic disturbance.The population trend is unknown.
