Mehely's horseshoe bat
|Mehely's Horseshoe Bat|
|Mehely's Horseshoe Bat range|
Mehely's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus mehelyi) is a species of bat in the Rhinolophidae family found in caves of Sicily and Sardinia, and very rarely in the eastern Europe and parts of the Middle East. These species of bat is a very rare species in danger of extinction for a long time about which little is known , there are several subspecies little or not known.
- Protection: protected species, near extinction. The species is critically endangered and classified as very "vulnerable" in the world. Protected by the Conventions of Bonn (EUROBATS) and Bern. Vulnerable evaluated by the European Mammal Assessment (IUCN 2007).
- Size : body 5,5 to 6,4 cm
- wingspan: 33 to 34 cm
- Weight : from 10 to 18 g
- Longevity : unknown
- Ultrasound : 105 to 112 kHz CF long and short and steep FM, in addition to issuing these high frequency signals are also output sounds to express emotions or to communicate, also communicate with body vibrations
- Winter Habitat : Caves
- Summer Habitat : Caves, forests and mountain forests
- Reproduction : unknown
- Hunting ground : Hunt alone or in small family communities in evening and night and sleeping in the days, System of identification of targets through echolocation
- Food : moth night
- Flight : up to 1,000 meters above sea level
- Production : the production of guano, found inside the caves used historically is considered one of the most valuable fertilizer, they have become important subject of scientific research in the medical field for the characteristics of a anticoagulant protein in their spit, the desmoteplase that could have significant benefits in the treatment and prevention of diseases like ischemia
- Notes : very clean, they spend a lot of time to clean and ordered the fur, using tongue or the fingers of the feet
- Distribution : only in the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia Caves, and extremely rare in the south of France, Romania, the Balkans, Spain and Portugal, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, North Africa
The bat is medium-sized for a member of the Rhinolophus genus, with pale lips and grey-brown ears and flight membranes. The fur is relatively thick, with the base of hairs grey-white. Ventral fur is almost white, while dorsal fur is grey-brown; the line between the dorsal and ventral sides is relatively sharp.
The bat is cave-dwelling, preferring areas of limestone with nearby water. It has been known to roost in caves with other horseshoe bats, hanging free on the cave roof.
The bat emerges at dusk, hunting low over the ground on warm hillsides and also among bushes and trees, preying on moths and other insects.
The constant frequency sound is between 105 and 112 kHz, with a short drop in frequency at the end of the signal, which normally lasts between 20 and 30 milliseconds. There is some frequency overlap with the Lesser Horsehoe Bat and the Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat.
- Chiroptera Specialist Group 1996. Rhinolophus mehelyi. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 30 July 2007.
- Schober, Wilfried; Eckard Grimmberger (1989). Dr. Robert E. Stebbings, ed. A Guide to Bats of Britain and Europe (1st ed.). UK: Hamlyn Publishing Group. ISBN 0-600-56424-X.
- Agnelli, P., Martinoli, A., Patriarca, E., Russo, D., Scaravelli, D. & Genovesi, P. (2004), Linee guida per il monitoraggio dei Chirotteri: indicazioni metodologiche per lo studio e la conservazione dei pipistrelli in Italia. Quaderni di Conservazione della NaturaMinistero dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio - Istituto Nazionale per la Fauna Selvatica "A. Ghigi", Roma
- GIRC (2004), The Italian bat roost project: a preliminary inventory of sites and conservation perspectives Hystrix, It. J. Mamm. pp. 55-68
- Lanza, B. (2012), Fauna d'Italia, Chiroptera Calderini, Bologna
- Mucedda, M. (1994), Note su Rhinolophus mehelyi (Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) della Sardegna. Boll. Gruppo Spel. Sassarese n.15: pp. 43-46
- Mucedda, M., Pidinchedda, E., Bertelli, M.L (2009), Status del Rinolofo di Mehely (Rhinolophus mehelyi) (Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) in Italia. Atti del 2° Convegno Italiano sui Chirotteri, Serra San Quirico (AN) pp. 89-98
- Ruffo, S. & Stock, F. (2005), Checklist e distribuzione della fauna italiana Memorie dei Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona - 2. Serie Sezione Scienze della Vita
- Russo D, Almenar D, Aihartza J, Goiti U, Salsamendi E, Garin I. (2005), Habitat selection in sympatric Rhinolophus mehelyi and R. euryale (Mammalia : Chiroptera) Journal of Zoology pp. 327-332
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