Lesser false vampire bat - Revision history

imported>Steel1943: /* Taxonomy and range */ fix common MOS:REFSPACE spacing errors, replaced: /ref>
2025-05-31T17:10:46Z

Taxonomy and range: fix common MOS:REFSPACE spacing errors, replaced: /ref> <ref → /ref><ref

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{{Short description|Species of bat}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Lesser false vampire bat
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Srinivasulu, B. |author2=Srinivasulu, C. |author3=Phelps, K. |date=2019 |title=''Megaderma spasma'' |volume=2019 |page=e.T12939A22022345 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T12939A22022345.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| image = Megaderma spasma.jpg
| genus = Megaderma
| species = spasma
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])<ref>{{cite book|last=Linnæus|first=Carl|title=Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I|year=1758|publisher=Laurentius Salvius|location=Holmiæ|pages=32|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/80764#page/42/mode/1up|edition=10th|access-date=22 November 2012|language=Latin}}</ref>
| range_map = Lesser False Vampire area.png
| range_map_caption = Lesser false vampire bat range
| synonyms = ''Vespertilio spasma'' <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small>
}}

The '''lesser false vampire bat''' ('''''Megaderma spasma''''') is a [[bat]] found in [[South Asia]] and [[Southeast Asia]] from [[Sri Lanka]] and [[India]] in the west to [[Indonesia]] and the [[Philippines]] in the east. They live in caves and tree hollows. They are [[insectivorous]].

== Description ==
The lesser false vampire bat has a [[wingspan]] of up to {{convert|30|cm|in}} and have a head-and-body length of around {{convert|10|cm|in}}. Their forearms are normally around {{convert|7|cm|in}}.

The lesser false vampire bat has yellowish veins through the wing, and when the wings are spread with light behind, they are given a prominent yellow/orange tinge. Their body colour ranges from grey-brown to blue-brown. Lesser false vampire bats live in rock [[Fracture (geology)|crevice]]s, caves, [[foliage]] and hollow trees, depending on availability, as well as hanging and sleeping on trees in general.

''M. spasma'' has fur pale grey to grey-brown in colour.<ref name="payne" /> Its noseleaf has long dorsal lobe with stiffened central ridge and broad convex flaps on the sides. Its ears are very large, joined at the base and it has no visible tail. Its echolocation pulses are short, low in density and broadband and its large ears are sensitive to echoes returning from their pulses and also sensitive to the sounds that prey generates.<ref name="John" /> ''M. spasma'' usually roosts in groups in caves, pits, building, and hollow trees.<ref name="nowak" /><ref name="payne" /> ''M. spasma'' favours grasshoppers and moths<ref name="nowak" /> but sometimes they eat small vertebrates, including other bats.<ref name="payne" /> They have well-developed, forward-pointing eyes and can locate prey visually.<ref name="John" />

== Taxonomy and range ==
''Megaderma spasma'' is classified in the order [[Bat|Chiroptera]], family [[Megadermatidae]], which comprises four genera and five species.<ref name="Feld">{{cite book |last=Feldhamer |first=G. A. |author2=Drickamer, L. C. |author3=Vessey, S. H. |author4=Merritt, J. F. |title=Mammalogy : Adaptation, Diversity and Ecology |publisher=[[McGraw-Hill]] |year=1999 |pages=206–224}}</ref><ref name="John">{{cite book |last=Altringham |first=John D. |author2=Tom McOwat |title=Bats: Biology and Behaviour |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1996 |pages=31–33 |isbn=9780198503224}}</ref><ref name="nowak">{{cite book |last=Nowak |first=R. |title=Walker's Mammals of the World, Vol 1 |edition=6th |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |year=1999 |location=Baltimore and London |pages=326–327}}</ref><ref name="payne">{{cite book |last=Payne |first=J. |author2=Francis, C. M. |author3=Phillipps, K. |title=Mammals of Borneo |publisher=The Sabah Society with World Wildlife Fund Malaysia |year=1985 |page=185}}</ref><ref name="wilson">{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=D. E. |author2=Reeder, D. M. |title=Mammal Species of the World |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution Press]] |year=1993 |page=163}}</ref> It is most closely related to the [[greater false vampire bat]], the only other species in the genus ''Megaderma''. The type locality for the species was in Indonesia, the [[Maluku Islands]], and at [[Ternate]].<ref name="wilson" /> There are two specimens of ''M. spasma''<ref>{{cite book |last=Kooi |first=K. M. |title=Catalogue of mammal skins in the Sarawak Museum, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia |publisher=Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS): Institute of Biodiversity and environmental conservation (IBEC) |year=1995 |page=27}}</ref> collected and kept at [[Sarawak State Museum|Sarawak Museum]] Unimas, one from [[Niah National Park|Niah]] and the other from Batu 16, Ulu [[Gombak District|Gombak]].

==Distribution==
''M. spasma'' is distributed throughout the southern and eastern [[Indian subcontinent|Indian Subcontinent]], including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Observations • iNaturalist |url=https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?lat=14.509803900066478&lng=89.3972007656059&place_id=any&radius=2366.841251957459&subview=map&taxon_id=41321 }}</ref> It is also present in mainland mainland Southeast Asia the Malay Peninsula, the Philippines, and much of Indonesia.<ref name="nowak" /><ref name="payne" /><ref name="wilson" />

== Ecology and behavior ==
''M. spasma'' usually roosts in a group of 3–30 individuals.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ellis |first=E. |title=''Megaderma spasma'' |work=[[Animal Diversity Web]] |year=1999 |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Megaderma_spasma.html |access-date=2009-01-12}}</ref> Their ecological importance may be both positive and negative to humans. They eat some insects which harm human crops, but they may carry and transmit certain diseases.<ref name="Feld"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Megadermatidae}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2358905}}

[[Category:Megadermatidae]]
[[Category:Bats of Asia]]
[[Category:Bats of Southeast Asia]]
[[Category:Bats of Borneo]]
[[Category:Bats of India]]
[[Category:Bats of Indonesia]]
[[Category:Bats of Malaysia]]
[[Category:Bats of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Mammals of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Mammals of Brunei]]
[[Category:Mammals of Cambodia]]
[[Category:Mammals of Laos]]
[[Category:Mammals of Myanmar]]
[[Category:Mammals of Singapore]]
[[Category:Mammals of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Mammals of Thailand]]
[[Category:Mammals of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Least concern biota of Asia]]
[[Category:Mammals described in 1758]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]