54.

Cantor’s Leaf-nosed Bat

Hipposideros galeritus

French: Phyllorhine de Cantor / German: Cantor-Rundblattnase / Spanish: Hiposidérido de Cantor

Other common names: Cantor's Roundleaf Bat

Taxonomy. Hipposideros galeritus Cantor, 1846,

“ Pinang [= Penang],” Malaysia .

Hipposideros galeritus was previously included in the bicolor species group, but is now placed in the calcaratus species group. Four subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

H. g. galeritus Cantor, 1846 -SE Thailand, S Laos, C & S Vietnam, Cambodia, Malay Peninsula (including Tarutao and Penang Is), Sumatra, and Bangka I.

H. g. brachyotis Dobson, 1874 -India (Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh), Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

H. g. insolens Lyon, 1911 — Borneo.

H. g. longicauda Peters, 1861 -W & Java.

Also present on Sanana I (Sula Is), but subspecies involved not known.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 45—59-5 mm, tail 29-5— 37 mm, ear 14-5— 17 mm, hindfoot 4-9— 8 mm, forearm 45—51-3 mm; weight 8-6 g. Females are normally larger than males. Cantor’s Leaf-nosed Bat has relatively short triangular ears; antitragus is as much as one-third of ear length. Noseleaf is simple and has two pairs of supplementary lateral leaflets in anterior leaf. Upper margin of intermediate leaf is slightly convex. Posterior leaf has a semicircular upper margin and presents three septa, forming four cells on frontal surface. Frontal sac is well developed in males. Tail is long. Pelage is brownish-grayish and sometimes reddish on dorsum; on ventral area fur is paler.

Habitat. Both dry and wet forests at elevations from sea level up to 1100 m.

Food and Feeding. Cantor’s Leaf-nosed Bat feeds on insects, mosdy beetles and moths. It forages in forest habitats, flying close to the ground.

Breeding. Small breeding colonies of Cantor’s Leaf-nosed Bat have been reported, mosdy in caves. Females have been reported carrying young in May.

Activity patterns. Cantor’s Leaf-nosed Bat roosts in caves, abandoned mines, fissures, churches, temples, crevices in buildings, and tunnels. Echolocation call includes a F component of 109-117 kHz.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Cantor’s Leaf-nosed Bat is gregarious, forming groups of tens or hundreds of individuals. It has been observed sharing roosts with the Fawn-colored Leaf-nosed Bat (H. ceruinus) and other bat species such as Eonycteris, Dobsonia, Miniopterus, Taphozous, Emballonura, and the Diadem Leaf-nosed Bat ( H. diadema). In Sri Lanka, it is reported to change its roost sites frequently.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCNRed List. Although Cantor’s Leaf-nosed Bat is usually not very abundant, it has a wide range and is thought to have a large overall population, as well as the ability to adapt to a certain amount of habitat disturbance. Habitat loss and transformation, and disturbance to roosting sites are probably threats.

Bibliography. Debata & Palita (2017), Debata eta/. (2015), Francis, Kingston eta/. (2008), Hill (1971c), Jenkins & Hill (1981), Kaur eta/. (2017), Vestjens & Hall (1977).