Geographic Range
Kerivoula lanosa
was originally thought to be restricted to the southeastern region of sub-saharan
Africa. The species was recorded in southeastern Zaire (now the Democratic Republic
of Africa) and Zambia and south into Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Botswana. In 1988,
these bats were discovered in Nigeria and western central Africa, including the counries
of Liberia, Ghana, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Gabon, and along the Ivory
Coast. In general,
K. lanosa
is a rare, but widely spread species.
Habitat
Kerivoula lanosa
tend to be associated with aquatic environments, although some specimens have been
collected in forested regions. They are usually found near rivers both in dry environments
as well as well watered areas. It is believed that
K. lanosa
uses abandoned bird nests for shelter during the day, especially those of weavers.
- Terrestrial Biomes
- savanna or grassland
- forest
- rainforest
- Aquatic Biomes
- rivers and streams
- coastal
Physical Description
Members of this genus are all characterized by their grizzled, woolly, hair and buffy
coloration. The hair of
K. lanosa
is curled, darker at the base than the tip, and extends onto the forearm and the
fringes of the wings. The ventral surface, including the throat, is a much lighter
shade of buff or white. Hairs on the interfemoral membrane tend to curve inward and
have a hooked appearance. As in other members of
Kerivoula
,
K. lanosa
possess a high braincase that tends to rise very steeply from the rostrum.
K. lanosa
also has broad, pointed ears that have a funnel shape. A calcaneum supports the
outer regions of the interfemoral membrane, which extends beyond the feet.
These animals have a mass ranging from 6 to 8 g. They are about 8 cm long.
- Other Physical Features
- endothermic
- homoiothermic
- bilateral symmetry
Reproduction
No information is available on the reproductive habits of K. lanosa .
Reproduction has apparently not been well studied in this species, and the only information
available is on the reproductive behavior of members of the family (Vespertilionidae).
Membes of this family may produce one or two offspring after a gestation of 40 to
100 days.
- Key Reproductive Features
- iteroparous
- seasonal breeding
- gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
- sexual
- fertilization
- viviparous
No information is available for
K. lanosa
. However, as in all mammals, we may assume that the mother provides the bulk of the
parental care. Females nurse their offspring, as well as provide them with protection
and grooming. Males of the genus
Kerivoula
may be associated with females and their young, although there is no direct evidence
of male parental care.
- Parental Investment
- no parental involvement
- female parental care
-
pre-fertilization
-
protecting
- female
-
protecting
-
pre-hatching/birth
-
provisioning
- female
-
protecting
- female
-
provisioning
-
pre-weaning/fledging
-
provisioning
- female
-
protecting
- female
-
provisioning
-
pre-independence
-
protecting
- female
-
protecting
Lifespan/Longevity
No information is available on K. lanosa for this category.
Behavior
Partially because the species is widespread and relatively rare, there is no information
available on the habits of
K. lansosa
. It is known, however, that the flight of this species is fairly slow and has been
described as fluttering. It is also known that these animals are nocturnal.
Home Range
(No information available).
Communication and Perception
While there is no information available on how K. lanosa communicates with conspecifics, it is known that all members of the subfamily ( Microchiroptera ) use echolocation to hunt.
- Perception Channels
- tactile
- acoustic
- ultrasound
- echolocation
- chemical
Food Habits
All members of the suborder (Microchiroptera) use high frequency sounds to locate
their prey.
K. lanosa
is insectivorous.
- Primary Diet
- carnivore
- Animal Foods
- insects
Predation
(No information available).
Ecosystem Roles
Bats play a very important ecological role in almost every ecosystem worldwide as
pollinators, seed dispersers, and insectivores. While there is no information on the
impact that
K.lanosa
has on its ecosystem, there is significant research available on other members of
the family
Vespertilionidae
. All information in this category is based on research for other species of the family,
and not that of
K. lanosa
. All members of the family are insectivorous and play a very important role in the
balance of their respective ecosystems.
One member of the
Vespertilionidea
family,
Myotis lucifugus
(little brown bat) can consume over 1200 (mosquito size) insects in one hour and
eat 100 percent of its own body mass every night. Roughly 80 percent of
M. lucifugus
in the northern US and Canada eat mosquitoes. These bats are known to be very important
in pest control in the region. A single 150 member colony of the species
Eptesicus fuscus
(big brown bat) is capable of consuming over 123,000 pest insects each summer.
It is reasonable to assume that
K. lanosa
is like other members of its family with regard to its impact on local insect populations.
- Ecosystem Impact
- keystone species
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
All information in this category is based on other memmbers of the family
Vespertilionidae
. There is no information on the economic importance of
K. lanosa
.
The diet of
E. fuscus
specifically includes insects known to defoliate trees and the roots of grasses and
other plants. These insects are pests in both orchards and soybean fields, and cause
the spread of many plant diseases. One beetle reduces productivity by 10 to 13 percent,
costs $15 to $25 per acre, and costs an estimated 33 billion dollars to American farmers
each year. Yet an
E. fuscus
colony of about 150 animals can devastate 33 million of the beetles’ larvae each
year. Because over 35 percent of its diet includes these insects,
E. fuscus
is considered to be very important for pest control.
K. lanosa
may perform a similar service by destroying insects.
Another member of the Vespertilionidae family,
Antrozous pallidu
, is also an important asset to ranchers. Pallid bats,
A. pallidus
, are known for consumption of grasshoppers and crickets. This species is another
example of the importance of bats as insectivores in many ecosystems
- Positive Impacts
- controls pest population
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
(No information available).
Conservation Status
(No information available).
Additional Links
Contributors
Nancy Shefferly (editor), Animal Diversity Web.
Casey Bartrem (author), Michigan State University, Barbara Lundrigan (editor, instructor), Michigan State University.
- Ethiopian
-
living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees north) and Madagascar.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- temperate
-
that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).
- tropical
-
the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.
- tropical savanna and grassland
-
A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.
- savanna
-
A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.
- temperate grassland
-
A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.
- forest
-
forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
- rainforest
-
rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.
- coastal
-
the nearshore aquatic habitats near a coast, or shoreline.
- endothermic
-
animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.
- bilateral symmetry
-
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
- iteroparous
-
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
- seasonal breeding
-
breeding is confined to a particular season
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- fertilization
-
union of egg and spermatozoan
- viviparous
-
reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.
- female parental care
-
parental care is carried out by females
- nocturnal
-
active during the night
- motile
-
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- ultrasound
-
uses sound above the range of human hearing for either navigation or communication or both
- echolocation
-
The process by which an animal locates itself with respect to other animals and objects by emitting sound waves and sensing the pattern of the reflected sound waves.
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- keystone species
-
a species whose presence or absence strongly affects populations of other species in that area such that the extirpation of the keystone species in an area will result in the ultimate extirpation of many more species in that area (Example: sea otter).
- carnivore
-
an animal that mainly eats meat
- insectivore
-
An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.
References
Ducummon, S. 2000. Ecological and Economic Importance of Bats. Bat Conservation and Mining: A Technical Interactive Forum.
Hill, J., D. Harrison, T. Jones. 1988. New record of bats (Microchiroptera) from Nigeria. Mammalia , 52/4: 590-592.
Kingdon, J. 1974. East African Mammals . London: Academic Press.
Nowak, R. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World, Sixth Edition . Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Rautenbach, I., D. Schlitter, L. Braack. 1984. New Distributional Records of Bats for the Republic of South Africa, with Special Reference to the Kruger National Park. Koedoe , 27: 131-135.
Roberts, A. 1951. The Mammals of South Africa . Cape Town: Central News Agency of South Africa.
Rosevear, D. 1965. The Bats of West Africa . London: Trustees of the Brittish Museum (Natural History).
Smithers, R. 1983. The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion . Pretoria: University of Pretoria.
2001. Michrochiropteran Bats: Global Status Survey and Conservation Action. Oryx , 35 (4): 363.