Wildlifeof India
Salim Ali's Fruit Bat
Bats
Photo: Rajesh Puttaswamaiah · CC BY-SA 4.0 (May be cropped or resized)
Latidens salimalii
Basic stats
Diet
Fresh fruit: Elaeocarpus oblongus and figs (Ficus glomerata, F. macrocarpa, F. beddomei)
Habitat
High Wavy Mountains, Western Ghats; first specimen at about 750m
Range
Endemic to the Western Ghats of southern India
Size
Body about 10cm; forearm 6.6cm
Salim Ali's fruit bat is a rare, medium-sized fruit bat and the only species in its genus. It has no external tail, oval ears with rounded tips, a blackish-brown head, light brown wings and light grey-brown underparts, with a hairless brown wing membrane. The body is about 10 cm long and the forearm 6.6 cm (Wikipedia, general species account).
It was first collected in 1948 by the planter-naturalist Angus Hutton in the High Wavy Mountains in the Western Ghats of Theni district, Tamil Nadu, at about 750 m. Bats have been seen eating fresh fruit of Elaeocarpus oblongus and of the figs Ficus glomerata, F. macrocarpa and F. beddomei. In 2002 the Indian government added it and Wroughton's free-tailed bat to Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, the highest level of protection (Wikipedia, general species account).
Quick answers
- What does the Salim Ali's Fruit Bat eat?
- Fresh fruit: Elaeocarpus oblongus and figs (Ficus glomerata, F. macrocarpa, F. beddomei)
- What habitat does the Salim Ali's Fruit Bat live in?
- High Wavy Mountains, Western Ghats; first specimen at about 750m
- Where is the Salim Ali's Fruit Bat found?
- Endemic to the Western Ghats of southern India
- How big is the Salim Ali's Fruit Bat?
- Body about 10cm; forearm 6.6cm