20. Small Asian Sheath-tailed Bat

Emballonura alecto

French: Emballonure des Philippines / German: Philippinen-reischwanzfledermaus / Spanish: Embalonuro de Filipinas

Other common names: Philippine Sheath-tailed Bat (alecto)

Taxonomy. Vespertilo {Nycticetus) [sic] afecZo Eydoux & P. Gervais, 1836,

Manila, Luzon, Philippines.

Four subspecies are recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

E. a. alecto Eydoux & P. Gervais, 1836 - Philippines (except Palawan), Talaud Is, Sulawesi, Togian Is, Banggai Is (Peleng), Raja Ampat Is (Gag), and the Moluccas (Sula, Seram, Ambon, Gorong, Tanimbar, and Kai Is).

E. a. anambensis G. S. Miller, 1900 - restricted to Natuna Besar I.

E. a. palawanensisE. H. Taylor, 1934 — Palawan and Balabac, Philippines.

E. a. rivalis Thomas, 1915 - Borneo

Descriptive notes. Head—body 46-3— 48-5 mm, tail 11-6-17-4 mm, ear 12— 13 mm, forearm 43-1-48-3 mm; weight 4-5 —7 g. Dorsum of the Small Asian Sheath-tailed Bat is uniformly dark brown to reddish brown. It has relatively large eyes. There is a small gap (diastema) between P1 and P2. Emballonura shares the same dental formula with Paremballonura and Mosier. 12/3, C 1/1, P 2/2, M 3/3 (x 2) = 34. This dental formula is found in no other genera of emballonurids.

Habitat. Primary and secondary lowland tropical humid forests.

Food and Feeding. Small Asian Sheath-tailed Bats are insectivorous.

Breeding. Pregnant Small Asian Sheath-tailed Bats have been reported in April and June in the Philippines, but the complete breeding cycle is unknown.

Activity patterns. Small Asian Sheath-tailed Bats are crepuscular and roost in cave entrances, including shallow caves and rock crevices, and under earth banks and buttresses offallen tree trunks. They emerge to forage in deep forest shade well before sunset.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Small Asian Sheath-tailed Bats can occur in bachelor colonies and mixed sex groups of up to 20 individuals. They can roost in caves with multiple other bat species including Lesser Sheath-tailed Bats (£. monticola'), Fawn-colored Leaf-nosed Bats {Hipposideros cervinus), and Small Melanesian Long-fingered Bats {Miniopterus macrocneme).

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on TÄ« IUCNRed List The Small Asian Sheath-tailed Bat has a large distribution and presumably large and stable overall population, although some local populations might be declining due to deforestation.

Bibliography. Csorba, Bumrungsri, rancis, Bates, Helgen etal. (2008), lannery (1995 b), Heaney, Balete eta/. (1998), Heaney, Gonzales et al. (1991), Hill (1983), Ingle (1992), Rabor (1986), Tate & Archbold (1939a).