The Long-tongued Fruit Bat (Macroglossus sobrinus) is a species of megabat

Megabat

Megabats constitute the suborder Megachiroptera, family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera . They are also called fruit bats, old world fruit bats, or flying foxes.-Description:...

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Distribution

M. sobrinus were mist-netted from Doi Suthep, Sungai Enam, Kuala Gandah, Wang Pinang Malaysia to Taleban on the Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 Mainland. This species is distributed in Burma, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 and Peninsular, Sumatra

Sumatra

Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...

, Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

 and Bali

Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

(Lekagul and McNeely 1977, Medway 1978). This species is commonly found in hilly areas in Malaysia (Lim 1966).

Biology and ecology

Five adult males and five adult females were recorded. On 25 March 1997, a full term foetus was aborted by a full term pregnant female (MTA97347) taken from Wang Pinang. Males with enlarged testes suggested that they were of sexually active state at Taleban in March 1997, Kuala Gandah in July 1997 and Doi Suthep in May 1997. M. sobrinus that were netted were all associated with banana plants in most sites and with flowering trees in Doi Suthep.

External measurements

• FA = 46.12±1.25, TL = 3.81±1.07 (6), EL = 15.38±1.00, HD = 30.22±1.39, TB = 18.29±0.61, WT = 20.22±3.23, HB = 73.92±4.45, HF = 9.29±0.89, D5 = 58.50±1.73.

M. sobrinus can be isolated from M. minimus by using external morphological measurements. Comparatively, M. sobranus is than M. minimus in the forearm length (43.35 to 46.95 mm vs 40 to 43 mm) and head length (30.05 to 30.54 mm vs 26 to 28 mm) and heavier body weight (17 to 23 g vs 13 to19 g) (Medway 1978). However, the tail length (0-2 mm versus 0-5 mm) and hind foot (8 - 9 mm versus 15-18 mm) disagreed to that of Lekagul and McNeely (1977).

External links

• Bat World Sanctuary
• Rodrigues Fruit Bats
• Bat Conservation International