The large slit-faced bat, Nycteris grandis, is a species of slit-faced bat with a broad distribution in forest and savanna habitats in West, Central, and East Africa. N. marica (Kershaw, 1923), is the available name for the southern savanna species if it is recognized as distinct from this species.
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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InsectivoresAn insectivore is a carnivorous plant or animal that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of e...
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TorporTorpor is a state of decreased physiological activity in an animal, usually marked by a reduced body temperature and metabolic rate. Torpor enables...
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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'...
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MonogamyMonogamy is a form of relationship in which both the male and the female has only one partner. This pair may cohabitate in an area or territory for...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThis bat is 2.75 to 3.75 in (70 to 95 mm) long and weighs less than 2 oz (57 g) (same for male and female). The name of this species comes from the furrow down its face. The furrow is partially covered by its nose-leaf. It has a reddish brown to gray fur on the back and upper areas. The torso is pale grey.
This bat resides uniformly across Eastern, Central, and Western Africa. It tends to be limited to savannah woodlands and rainforests, especially the coastal forests of East Africa. They use hollowed out trees or rocky caverns as roosting locations. Some examples of trees in which N. grandis tends to roost are Acacia aldiba, Adansonia digitata, and Mitragyna stipulosa.When living in captivity, these bats roost in artificial structures such as houses, culverts, and water towers. Though this bat is an opportunistic predator (diet depends upon prey availability), smaller bats, fish, and frogs constitute much of the biomass of its diet, so changes in rainfall such as drought can be detrimental to them by eliminating larger prey.
It lives in groups and the colony may number up to 60 bats. It spends the day taking shelter and roosting in trees, caves, or buildings, and it is a nocturnal species. They tend to return to the same roosting spot every day. After feeding, they usually groom themselves before approaching others. Females leave their young behind while they leave the roost to forage. Flight activity usually peaks in the hour after dark. Although individuals visit the same foraging sites frequently, a high degree of variation exists between sites, which does not seem to be correlated with similarity to roosting sites. Two foraging strategies are used, hunting from a perch or catching prey while in flight. Except when prey density is low, these bats prefer to perch and wait for prey, or to make short flights out to catch because the net cost of foraging is lower when performed in this way. Because of the broadness of their wings and lower wing loadings, these bats are less adapted to fly over long distances. Although smaller bats are consumed by N. grandis, they are only eaten when they fly into the roosts of N. grandis. N. grandis produces low-intensity echolocation calls at high frequencies, which makes them nearly inaudible except at close range. Instead of relying on echolocation to find their prey, these bats listen for wing fluttering of smaller bats and even insects. However, as N. grandis gets closer to its prey during a hunt, it exudes a louder echolocation call. At the beginning of the pursuit, the call ranges from 17 to 114 kHz, and rises to a range of 61–110 kHz just before the prey is caught.
As this species is strong, it preys on other bats, birds, scorpions, sun spiders, frogs, and even grabs fish near the surface of the water. It swoops onto its prey. The bats that it consumes tend to weigh 5-10 g. N. grandis will consume smaller bats during the winter season (June and July), and will only eat smaller bats that have entered the roost during the remainder of the year. Bats, frogs, and fish are important as prey because they constitute most of the biomass of N. grandis' diet, whereas arthropods make up less than 20% of the diet. As mentioned, these bats are opportunistic predators, so geographical variation and changes in rainfall have a tremendous impact on their diet. N. grandis uses rate of encounter with prey to determine which foraging style would be the most advantageous, and uses this information to adjust its prey selection.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...