Horsfield's Short-nosed Fruit Bat

About this species

Weight

About 55–60g

Habitat

Lowland habitats from dense primary rainforest to agricultural land and suburban gardens

Range

Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei

Horsfield's fruit bat is a medium-sized megabat, intermediate in size between flying foxes and pygmy fruit bats. Adults weigh about 55 to 60 g and have light-grey to brown fur with a reddish-brown or orange mantle around the shoulders, which in some males extends across the chest. The rim of the ears and the skin of the wing over the finger bones are white. It has a short, broad snout ending in almost tubular nostrils, and large ears without tragi. It is named for Thomas Horsfield, who presented the type specimen to the British Museum (Wikipedia, general species account).

It inhabits a broad range of lowland habitats, from dense primary rainforest to farmland and suburban gardens. Four subspecies are recognised: harpax (Thailand, peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra), horsfieldii (Java and islands east to Sumbawa), persimilis (Borneo) and princeps (Nias) (Wikipedia, general species account).

Description: Wildlife of Sumatra guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)