Friday, January 20, 2012

Meet Yoda

Philippine tube-nosed fruit bat *Google Images

Philippine tube-nosed fruit bat looks like Yoda in Star Wars.

First described in 1984, the peculiar features of this species make it one of the strangest and intriguing of all known bats . One of the most bizarre and distinctive features is its separate tubular nostrils, which are about 6 mm long and project outwards above the mouth, and give this bat its common name . This species is also one of the few striped bats in the world, bearing one broad dark stripe down the centre of its back. There are also unusual yellow spots on the ears and wings . The fur is soft and a pale golden brown to buff colour in females, and a darker, more chocolaty brown in males

The Philippine tube-nosed bat breeds seasonally, with females giving birth to one young each year between April and May. Young females first become pregnant at around seven to eight months old, producing their first young four and a half to five months later, at about one year of age. By contrast, males are thought to reach sexual maturity a little later than females, at approximately one year of age. Lactation lasts three to four months, but little else is known about parental behaviour in raising the young.

This forest bat is known to feed on wild figs, and thought to rarely forage far from its roost. Like many fruit bats, this species is also suspected to feed on a variety of other local fruits and possibly insects as well.
 


Source: http://www.arkive.org

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