Megaderma spasma

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 622 meters (0 to 2,041 feet).[1]

Ecology: In South Asia, this species is found in humid areas and dense tropical moist forest . It roosts in small colonies in caves, old and disused buildings, temples, lofts of thatched huts , tiled roofs, hollows in large trees and disused mines (Molur et al. 2002). It has a low and fast flight and feeds on Lepidopterans, coleopterans, hymenopterans and other insects but does not feed on vertebrates . One young is born between April to the month of June (Bates and Harrision 1997). Rarely occurs in the same location with M. lyra. Individuals hang separately until disturbed , when they huddle together (S. Molur pers. obs.). In the Philippines, it is found in lowland primary and secondary forest (Heaney et al. 1991). Known to roost in caves, tree-hollows, and hollow logs (Taylor 1934; Lawrence 1939; Rabor 1986; Ingle 1992; Rickart et al. 1993; Lepiten 1995). On Palawan, the species occurs in bamboo thickets, secondary forest, and primary forest (Esselstyn et al. 2004). (Ref. 285807).

List of Habitats :

•     1     Forest   
  
•     1.6     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland   
  
•     1.7     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level   
  
•     1.8     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Swamp   
  
•     1.9     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane   
  
•     6     Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs , mountain peaks)   
  
•     7     Caves and Subterranean Habitats (non-aquatic)   
  
•     7.1     Caves and Subterranean Habitats (non-aquatic) - Caves   
  
•     7.2     Caves and Subterranean Habitats (non-aquatic) - Other Subterranean Habitats   
  
•     14     Artificial/Terrestrial   
  
•     14.4     Artificial/Terrestrial - Rural Gardens   
[more info]

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Megaderma horsfieldii • Vespertilio spasma

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 08-Jun-2004

Similar Species

Members of the genus Megaderma

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 4 species and subspecies in this genus:

M. lyra (Greater False Vampire) · M. lyra lyra (Greater False Vampire Bat) · M. spasma (Lesser False Vampire) · M. spasma spasma (Lesser False Vampire Bat)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A catalogue of the mammalia in the Museum of the Hon. East-India Company. London, Printed by J. & H. Cox, 1851. url p. 32.
• A descriptive account of the mammals of Borneo. .. London[Edward Abbott]1893. url p. 39, p. 77.
• A history of the earth and animated nature / with copious notes, to which is subjoined an appendix by Thomas Brown. Glasgow: A. Fullarton, 1840. url p. 462.
• A key to the bats of the Philippine Islands / Nina R. Ingle, Lawrence R. Heaney. 69 1992 [Chicago, Ill.]: Field Museum of Natural History, c1992. url table 2 , fig. 11 , p. 14, p. 15, fig. 36-37, page 35, p. iii.
• A synopsis of the mammalian fauna of the Philippine Islands / Lawrence R. Heaney. .. [et al.]. 88 1998 [Chicago, Ill.]: Field Museum of Natural History, c1998. url fig. 5 , p. 13, p. 21.
• A textbook of medical entomology / by Walter Scott Patton and Francis William Cragg. London: Christian Literature Society for India, 1913. url p. 513.
• An introduction to the study of mammals living and extinct, London, A. and C. Black, 1891. url .
• Anales de la Sociedad Española de Historia Natural. Madrid: La Sociedad, url p. 240, p. 277.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) url p. 142.
• Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, 1863- url , p. 151.
• Cassell's natural history. Ed. by P. Martin Duncan. .. London [etc]Cassell & Company, Limited, 1896. url p. 289, p. 290.
• Catalogue of mammalia in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, Calcutta, 1881-1891. url .
• Catalogue of mammals and birds of Burma: with a memoir, and a portrait of the author. Hertford: Printed by S. Austin & Sons, 1875. url .
• Catalogue of scientific papers, 1800-1900. CambridgeUniversity Press1908-14 url p. 726.
• Catalogue of the Chiroptera in the collection of the British Museum. London, Printed by order of the Trustees, 1878. url , , , , , , .
• Catalogue of the bones of Mammalia in the collection of the British museum. London, Printed by Order of the Trustees, 1862. url .
• Catalogue of the bones of mammalia in the collection of the British Museum / [compiled by Edward Gerrard]. London: printed by Taylor and Francis, by order of the Trustees, 1862 url p. 40.
• Ceylon; an account of the island, physical, historical, and topographical, with notices of its natural history, antiquities and productions, by Sir James Emerson Tennent. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1860. url p. 160.
• Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian mammals 1758 to 1946 / by J.R. Ellerman and T.C.S. Morrison-Scott. London: BM(NH), 1966. url p. 108, p. 109.
• Edinburgh journal of natural history and of the physical sciences. Edinburgh [etc.]: Published for the proprietor [etc.], 1835-1840. url p. 29.
• General function of the gall bladder from the evolutionary standpoint, by Frank W. Gorham and Andrew Conway Ivy. 22 1938 Chicago, 1938. url p. 190.
• Handbook of zoology / by J. van der Hoeven. Cambridge: University Press, 1856-1858. url p. 739.
• Handbook of zoology; by J. van der Hoeven. Tr. from the 2d Dutch ed. by the Rev. William Clark. Cambridge: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, 1856-58. url p. 739.
• Hardwicke's science-gossip: an illustrated medium of interchange and gossip for students and lovers of nature. London: Robert Hardwicke, 1866- url p. 28.
• Introduction to mammalia. Edinburgh, W. H. Lizars, 1858. url p. 129.
• Island life; or, the phenomena and causes of insular faunas and floras, including a revision and attempted solution of the problem of geological climates, by Alfred Russel Wallace. London, Macmillan, 1880. url p. 387.
• Journal of the Federated Malay States museums. Kuala Lumpur: F.M.S. Museums, 1906-1929. url p. 152, p. 161.
• Journal of the New York Entomological Society. Lawrence, Kan.: Allen Press [etc.] url p. 262.
• Mammalia, by W. T. Blanford, F. R. S. London: Taylor and Francis, 1888-91. url p. 293, p. 294, p. 294.
• Mammalian diversity on Mount Isarog: a threatened center of endemism on southern Luzon Island, Philippines / Lawrence R. Heaney. .. [et al.]. 95 1999 [Chicago, Ill.]: Field Museum of Natural History, c1999. url table 6 , p. 15, p. 26, p. 57.
• Mammals of Eastern Asia / by G.H.H. Tate. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1947. url p. 101.
• Mammals. 33 1952 [Chicago]Chicago Natural History Museum, 1952. url p. 102.
• Natural history of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon / by Robert A. Sterndale; with 170 illustrations by the author, T.W. Wood, and others. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink, 1884. url p. 43.
• North American fauna. Washington: Fish and Wildlife Service; for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U. S. Govt. Print. Off. url p. 638.
• On the anatomy of vertebrates. .. By Richard Owen. London, Longmans, Green and Co., 1866-68. url p. 429.
• On the anatomy of vertebrates. LondonLongmans, Green1866-68 url p. 429.
• Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia url p. 320, p. 320, p. 333.
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Washington, Biological Society of Washington url p. 275, p. 277, p. 278, p. 279, p. 282, p. 406, p. 454, p. 457, p. 459, p. 464, p. 466.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] url p. 1039, p. 128, p. 308, p. 474, p. 479, p. 64, p. 666, p. 764.
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Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
• Chiroptera Specialist Group 1996. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 19, 2008.
• Chiroptera Specialist Group 1996. Megaderma spasma. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org . Downloaded on 20 October 2006.
• Csorba, G., Bumrungsri, S., Helgen, K., Francis, C., Bates, P., Gumal, M., Kingston, T., Heaney, L., Balete, D., Esselstyn, J., Molur, S. & Srinivasulu, C. 2008. Megaderma spasma. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 02February2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 29, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 5 providers.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 29, 2008:

• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History: Vertebrate specimens
• Michigan State University Museum: Vertebrate specimens
• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
• National Chemical Laboratory: IndOBIS, Indian Ocean Node of OBIS
• Royal Ontario Museum: Mammal specimens
• University of Kansas Biodiversity Research Center: Mammal Collection

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 104701
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-631756
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 631756
• IUCN ID: 222143
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 5485

Footnotes

1. Mean = -69.250 meters (-227.198 feet), Standard Deviation = 793.080 based on 24 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.