The Midas free-tailed bat (Mops midas ) is a species of bat scientifically classified in the order Chiroptera and the family Molossidae. It is distributed from western Africa to Saudi Arabia and further south. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, moist savanna, woodlands and hot deserts. The more southern are also known to live around large rivers or the swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Nocturnality 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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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'...
Highly social animals are those which are highly interactive with other members of their species. They live in large groups, nest in colonies, and ...
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starts withThe free-tailed bat has broad ears that are connected by a hairy membrane crossing the length of its forehead. Fur is dark brown with white specks and paler on the front half of the body. Less hair is found on the neck, thighs and legs. The free-tailed bat is heavier than other bats of the same family because of its larger feet, thumbs and tail.
The free-tailed bat is found in Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Free-tailed bats are nocturnal and prefer to roost in total darkness. Bats have been reported to roost in trees, under bridges and inside houses. The groups are normally very noisy as they push and shove each other for position, and can be very aggressive in the presence of humans. The bats will bite if given the chance. They are very social have been observed roosting in groups from as little as 2, to in the hundreds and females outnumber the males by 4 to 1. Bats leave the roost in groups up to 20 at sundown to forage for insects and return together at sunrise. Flights have been seen to be both long and short, from less than 10 minutes to more than 50 and have been detected to forage up to 10 kilometer from the roost. The bats are not agile fliers, preferring open airspace at up to 40m in height.
Pregnant females have been found in the months between December and January and give birth between February and March. Females carry a single fetus, weighing up to 10 grams at time of birth.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...