Peters's dwarf epauletted fruit bat (Micropteropus pusillus ) is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and moist savanna.
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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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FrugivoreA frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts, and seeds. Approx...
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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NectarivoreIn zoology, a nectarivore is an animal that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of the sugar-...
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ArborealArboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some anima...
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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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PollinatorA pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilizat...
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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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SolitaryHibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy charac...
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starts withPeters's dwarf epauletted fruit bat is one of the two species contained within its genus Micropteropus. M. pusillus belongs to the order Chiroptera and the family Pteropodidae. In contrast to the other species in this genus, Micropteropus intermedius, both sexes contain white tuffs at the proximal end of their ears. However, when adults are compared side by side, M. pusillus can be identified as the smaller of the two. M. pusillus display variance between their dorsal and ventral pelage. Fur is often described as thicker and a darker shade of brown on the dorsal surface, but the variance in color can be attributed to a lower concentration of fur along the ventral surface
Secondary sexual dimorphic traits allow for sex determination without analysis of the sex organs. In males, the ornamentation at the base of the ear has the capability to erect itself with the assistance from the arrector pili muscle. On average females are slightly larger than males by approximately of ten percent when comparing body mass. This variation is also present in the many body proportions including wingspan, head length, ear length, and many other anatomical variations. Despite the larger size observed in the females, M. pusillus is still one of the smaller mammals in the Megachiroptera suborder.
M. pusillus feeds on nectar as well as fruits and insects. The consumption of nectar requires the bat to come into direct contact with the pollen produced by the plants, allowing for pollination of the plants in its tropical environment and a mutual relationship between the plants and the bats. Its pollination is viewed as a positive ecological advantage, but the frugivorous diet has had negative agricultural impact on farms in the surrounding areas of their inhabitance. Like nearly all the other bats within the suborder Megachiroptera, M. pusillus does not rely on echolocation to hunt down insects. it was originally hypothesized that M. pusillus primarily fed on nectar and fruits, but there is now images of M. pusillus feeding on moths.
M. pusillus females are sexually receptive year round, however, mating and lactation have been most frequently been observed during the periods when fruit is most accessible. This is during the two rainy seasons during the year. The rainy season during the spring is from March to May and in the fall from September to November. The selection of this time frame for gestation and lactation allows the female the best opportunity for satisfying her nutritional needs during a time of increased metabolic rate. Morphological differences in the males allow them to emit high pitched sounds to attract a mate.
