Bats are truly champion animals as they are the only mammals capable of sustained flight and apart from birds, they are the only vertebrates capable of powered flight; they account for nearly a quarter of all mammalian species on earth; have exploited all major land habitats except the polar regions, highest mountains and a few remote islands; and have exceptional senses, including the ability of echolocation in some species. Furthermore, they are able to hibernate; lower or increase their body temperature; store viable sperm (males and females); delay implantation of fertilised eggs, thus delay the time of birth; and above all – they are essential pollinators, seed dispersers and controllers of insect numbers (some bat colonies consume up to 250 tons of insects per night). The best is – they do all this at night while roosting and grooming (using its trilobed incisors as combs) during daylight.
Sundevall’s roundleaf bat is a small, insectivorous bat with large pointed ears, small eyes and a distinct nose-leaf structure, which plays an important role in echolocation and as such in successful feeding. In addition, they have an interfemoral (tail) membrane extending sideways from the tail-tip, along the legs to both feet. This membrane aids manoeuvrability, may play a role in capturing prey, serve as a holding pouch for captured prey or to hold the baby during birth. These small bats generally occur in savanna woodland, bushveld and coastal forest, usually associated with rivers and other open water resources from which they regularly sip water in flight. Although gregarious and often forming colonies of several hundreds or even thousands (± 500 000 in one cave in Gabon), they may occur in small groups of 2 – 3 bats, often roosting in roofs, disused buildings, caves or any suitable cover and may become a problem in houses due to the unpleasant smell of the guano.
They feed mainly on flying moths, which are captured using a high-peak echolocation frequency with the clicks produced by the bat’s larynx, and inaudible to most moths. The nose-leaves are sound reflectors, which beam the echolocation pulses forward, almost like “search-lights”, while the ears pick up the returning echo. Some nasty tasting insects warn bats by sending out their own ultrasonic clicks, while others jam the bat’s sonar by producing sounds that mimic the echo of large objects. However, Sundevall’s are skilled and highly manoeuvrable bats but due to their relative short broad wings, they fly slowly and are consequently often killed by speeding vehicles at night. Worldwide bats are often poorly understood mammals and are persecuted due to human ignorance, killed by raiding hunters, poisoned, their habitat destroyed, while human disturbance to roosting sites also threatens their survival.
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