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Chiroptera

Chiroptera generally refers to bats, which are the only mammals that can truly fly; in addition to the characteristics of general mammals, they also have a series of morphological characteristics adapted to flight. Bats have strong flying abilities and are also natural hosts for a variety of zoonotic viruses, capable of carrying dozens of viruses. Bats can be divided into two suborders, with a total of 16 families, 185 genera, and 962 species worldwide, and about 7 families, 30 genera, and 120 species in China.

I. Introduction to Chiroptera

1. General Characteristics:

  • Forelimbs Modified into Wings: Bats are the only mammals capable of sustained, flapping flight. Their elongated fingers support a wing membrane (patagium).

  • Echolocation (Most Species): While most microbats use echolocation to navigate and hunt insects, fruit bats (family Pteropodidae) generally rely more on their well-developed vision and smell, with little or no echolocation.

  • Diverse Diets: Bats occupy a wide range of dietary niches—many are insectivorous, while others consume fruit, nectar, pollen, small vertebrates, fish, and even blood.

  • Ecological Importance: As pollinators, seed dispersers, and insect controllers, bats play vital ecological roles and contribute to the balance of various ecosystems.

2. Diversity and Abundance:

  • With over 1,400 described species, Chiroptera is the second-largest order of mammals after Rodentia.

  • Bats are nearly cosmopolitan, found worldwide except in polar regions and some isolated oceanic islands.


II. Evolutionary History

1. Origin and Fossil Record:

  • The earliest known bat fossils date back to the early Eocene, about 52 million years ago.

  • Fossils indicate that early bats were already well-adapted for flight, sharing key skeletal features with modern bats.

2. Biogeographic Radiation:

  • As continents shifted and climates changed, bats dispersed worldwide and diversified.

  • Old World fruit bats (Pteropodidae) specialized in frugivory and nectarivory, while New World leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) display a wide range of feeding adaptations (fruits, nectar, insects, blood).

3. Molecular Insights and Revised Classification:

  • Traditionally, bats were split into Megachiroptera ("fruit bats") and Microchiroptera ("microbats"). However, molecular studies showed that this division is not strictly reflective of evolutionary relationships.

  • Current molecular phylogenies divide bats into two major suborders: Yinpterochiroptera and Yangochiroptera. Yinpterochiroptera includes the fruit bats and several echolocating families, whereas Yangochiroptera includes the majority of the echolocating bat lineages.


III. Classification Overview

Order Chiroptera

Suborder Yinpterochiroptera

FamilyRepresentative Genera/SpeciesNotes
Pteropodidae (Old World fruit bats)Pteropus (flying foxes)Primarily frugivorous/nectarivorous, rely on vision and smell; mainly in Old World tropics.
Rhinolophidae (Horseshoe bats)RhinolophusCharacteristic horseshoe-shaped noseleaf; echolocating insectivores in the Old World.
Hipposideridae (Leaf-nosed bats)HipposiderosSimilar to Rhinolophidae, echolocation via noseleaf structures, Old World distribution.
Rhinonycteridae (Trident and related bats)Triaenops and relativesOld World leaf-nosed bats closely related to Rhinolophidae and Hipposideridae.
Megadermatidae (False vampire bats)MegadermaSome species feed on small vertebrates; tailless, Old World distribution.
Craseonycteridae (Kitti’s hog-nosed bat)Craseonycteris thonglongyaiOne of the world’s smallest mammals, found in Thailand and Myanmar.

Suborder Yangochiroptera

FamilyRepresentative Genera/SpeciesNotes
Emballonuridae (Sheath-tailed bats)Taphozous (sac-winged bats)Possess wing sacs; insectivorous.
Nycteridae (Slit-faced bats)Nycteris (slit-faced bats)Complex nose structures, Old World insectivores.
Myzopodidae (Sucker-footed bats)MyzopodaEndemic to Madagascar; have suction cups on thumbs and ankles.
Mystacinidae (New Zealand short-tailed bats)Mystacina tuberculataUnique terrestrial foraging habits, endemic to New Zealand.
Thyropteridae (Disk-winged bats)ThyropteraSuction-cup structures on wings for clinging to leaves, Neotropical.
Furipteridae (Smoky bats)Furipterus horrensReduced thumbs enclosed in wing membrane, Neotropical.
Noctilionidae (Bulldog or Fishing bats)Noctilio (bulldog bats)Some species catch fish; found in the New World.
Mormoopidae (Mustached and Ghost-faced bats)Mormoops, PteronotusComplex facial folds, insectivorous, New World.
Phyllostomidae (New World leaf-nosed bats)Desmodus (vampire bats), Glossophaga (nectar-feeding)Diverse diets: fruits, nectar, insects, blood; Neotropical.
Natalidae (Funnel-eared bats)NatalusFunnel-shaped ears, found from Mexico to South America.
Molossidae (Free-tailed bats)Molossus, Tadarida brasiliensisStrong fliers, tail extends beyond tail membrane, cosmopolitan.
Vespertilionidae (Evening bats)Nyctalus noctula, Lasionycteris noctivagansThe largest family of bats, worldwide distribution, mostly insectivorous.
Miniopteridae (Bent-winged bats)MiniopterusDistinctive wing joints, widely distributed in Old and New Worlds.
Cistugidae (Wing-gland bats)CistugoOnce included in Vespertilionidae, now recognized as a distinct family in Africa.

IV. Summary

Bats represent a remarkable evolutionary success, showcasing adaptations for powered flight, echolocation, and a wide range of feeding habits. Since their Eocene origins, bats have radiated globally to exploit niches from tropical rainforests to deserts. Whether pollinating flowers, dispersing seeds, controlling insect populations, or innovatively feeding on fish or blood, bats illustrate the profound evolutionary creativity that arises over millions of years.

Carnivora Primates Rodents Chiroptera Eulipotyphla Ungulata Cetacea Lagoiformes Pholidota Proboscidea Monotremata
Myotis adversus

Myotis adversus

Myotis adversus

Features:The auricle is prominent and bare, and the tragus is short and relatively wide.

According to the literature, Myotis laniger is slightly larger than Myotis laniger, but it is not easily separated in the field identification. Its body size overlaps with the South China Myotis bat. Phylogenetic relationships indicate that it is closely related to Myotis macrot...

Myotis hasseltii

Myotis hasseltii

Myotis hasseltii

Features:

Myotis horsfieldii belongs to the subgenus <Leuconoe> and is particularly similar to Myotis Horsfieldii, except that the pterygodes of the lesser megapodes end at the ankle, whereas the pterygodes end at the base of the metatarsal bone. The former has a wider skull and str...

Myotis fimbriatus

Myotis fimbriatus

Myotis fimbriatus

Features:Endemic species in China

There may be some confusion about the classification of hairy-legged Myotis bats. Different scholars have different classification views, and some scholars have proposed that this species is related to Myotis mysticinus (<Myotis mysticinus>), macrodactylus (<M. macrodactylus>), and long-...

Myotis chinensis

Myotis chinensis

Myotis chinensis

Features:One of the larger species of bat family. The head is like a mouse, but the tips of the ears are long and the front fold can reach the end of the nose.

The Chinese Myotis bat is one of the larger species of bat family. It inhabits large caves, hanging single or in numbers from the roof walls of caves. Sometimes they form mixed colonies of tens or hundreds of large footed bats. Flying insects, night out of the cave to hunt, return to the cave before...

Myotis badius

Myotis badius

Myotis badius

Features:The ears are longer than they are wide and have a spear-shaped tragus.

Chinchilla bats belong to the Myotis siligorensis group, which was first identified and named in Yunnan, China, in 2011。It often lives in limestone caves at higher elevations, surrounded by forests and shrubs. Often co-habitates with other bat species, Such as the Chinese Rhinolophus sinicus, the l...

Myotis altarium Thomas

Myotis altarium Thomas

Myotis altarium Thomas

Features:The tragus is narrow and long

Southwest Mouse-eared bat, also known as Emei Mouse-eared Bat or Sichuan Mouse-eared bat, is an animal of the genus Mouse-eared bat of the bat family, and is a unique species in China. It is distributed in Jiangxi, Guizhou, Anhui, Sichuan and other places, and mainly inhabits caves, and mostly cohab...

,Chaerephon plicata,

,Chaerephon plicata,

,Chaerephon plicata,

Features:The snout is broad, with some species having wrinkled lips and no nasal lobes.

During the day, small groups lurk in caves, cliff cracks, and also hide in cracks in buildings such as houses. Morning and night out for food. He has a hibernation habit. Insectivorous, good for humans. Some scholars have found a group of tens of thousands of animals living in a cliff crevise in Lib...

,European free-tailed bat

,European free-tailed bat

,European free-tailed bat

Features:The ears are large, short and broad, and have a distinct sharp Angle, and the body is covered with dark brown short hair, and the wings are also dark brown.

The number of individuals is small, single or two or three undulating in the rock crevices. They have a strong life force, climb quickly, and live in one place all year round, not mixed with other species of bats. In the same cave, a few pipistrella cineraria and a few scattered bats with broken win...

chiroptera

chiroptera

CHIROPTERA

Features:The nasal lobes are very distinctive and easy to recognize.

There are only a few hundred of them now, and the population is rare. For a small animal population of only a few hundred, this population is already too rare, and it can be said that it is even more precious than the giant panda. Cave bats, which feed on small insects.In March 2006, Zhang Shuyi, a...

Aselliscus stoliczkanus

Aselliscus stoliczkanus

Aselliscus stoliczkanus

Features:Nasal lobes developed, with 3 inconspicuous longitudinal edges

The species is found in West Malaysia. The auricle and tail are very distinctive and easy to recognize. The population is extremely rare. Cave-like bats can intermix with a variety of bats, such as the Great hoofted bat (<Hipposideros armiger) and the Asian long-winged bat (<Miniopterus fuligi...

Hipposideros pratti

Hipposideros pratti

Hipposideros pratti

Features:One of the larger bats

The Przewalski's bat is a large bat that lives in large, damp, dark caves. In large groups of dozens or hundreds of bats, many other bats can be seen in the same hole, but they do not mix. Go out at night. It eats insects. Because the males of this species form particularly well-developed skin l...

Hipposideros pomona

Hipposideros pomona

Hipposideros pomona

Features:The ears are particularly large, the body hair is long and soft; the back hair is gray-brown and slightly white, with pointed hair.

Lesser hoofed bats are smaller. It lives in wet caves or abandoned bomb shelters. It is a relatively common species, usually gathering tens or hundreds of large groups, and other species of bats can be seen in the same cave. Nocturnal activity. Insectivorous, mostly lepidoptera insects.Fly in the ev...

Hipposideros larvatus

Hipposideros larvatus

Hipposideros larvatus

Features:The central anterior nasal protuberance is spherical, followed by a shallow longitudinal groove in the center.

The Mesohoofed bat is a member of the genus Hoofed Bat of the family Hoofed Bat. There are five subspecies of the horseshoe bat in the world, but the exact number of subspecies distributed in China has been debated. Mesohooves live in colonies in various cave...

Hipposideros cineraceus

Hipposideros cineraceus

Hipposideros cineraceus

Features:The auriculae are yellowish brown, blunt-pointed and relatively large

The grey horseshoe bat is a cave bat. About 50 species were found in the air raid shelter of Zhidong Village, Mingjiang Town, Chongzuo Ning, Guangxi. It is found in Gulong Cave and Shuangbai Mine in Yuanjiang, Yunnan. Also living in the same caves are the small hoofed bats...

Hipposideros armiger

Hipposideros armiger

Great Himalayan Leaf-nosed Bat,Hipposideros armiger

Features:It is one of the largest species of insectivorous bats in China.

The big horseshoe bat is very large, with forearms up to nearly 100 mm, ears are also large, triangular, hair is long and dense, body color changes, back color smoke brown or even black brown, belly color gray brown, some purple brown.Large horseshoe bats often live in tens or hundreds of individual...

Lesserbrownhorseshoebat

Lesserbrownhorseshoebat

Lesserbrownhorseshoebat,Rhinolophussineno

Features:The back hair is brown, the belly hair is light.

The new distribution record of this species was reported in China in 2005. Alice C. Hughes et al. recorded its capture in the ecological monitoring survey of Xishuangbanna Botanical Garden in Yunnan Province (see photo), which is the northernmost distribution of this species. Abroad, it is mainly di...

Chinese Horseshoe Bat

Chinese Horseshoe Bat

Chinese Horseshoe Bat, Chinese Rufous Horseshoe Bat

Features:Small eyes and big ears, host of new coronavirus, host of SARS

The Chinese Rhinolophus rouxii sinicus was previously classified as a subspecies of Rhinolophus rouxii sinicus (Chinese name for Rhinolophus rouxii sinicus) until 1997. Due to chromosome and morphological studies, it is very different from Rhinolophus lui, so it was promoted to a separate species in...

Schnitler’s Horseshoe Bat

Schnitler’s Horseshoe Bat

Features:It is endemic to China.

The species is found in a rocky cave surrounded by agricultural land, 200m from the nearest village. Rhinolophus macroetalis, Rhinolophus mari, Rhinolophus chinensis and Myotis were also collected from the same cave. This species is named Schnitler's Horseshoe Bat in honor of Professor Hans-Ulri...

Rhinolophus rex

Rhinolophus rex

Rhinolophus rex

Features:The nose leaves are peculiar, with a total length of 14 mm.

A female bat, Rhinolophus rex, was caught 100m away from the entrance of Kunebian Cave on Kunebian Mountain in Shijiaba Town, Xingshan County, Hubei Province, at 10 am on December 11, 2007, during a survey of biodiversity in caves between Yichang and Badong sections of the Shanghai to Chengdu Expres...

Rhinolophus blythi

Rhinolophus blythi

Rhinolophus blythi

Features:

R. blythi andersen: Least horseshoe bat is the smaller of the horseshoe bats. It lives in caves, tunnels, or near settlements in low mountains. They live in common with other bats. The number is small,1-5 heads in a group, occasionally 20 large groups. Homogenous groups occur seasonally. Prey on mot...

Rhinolophus pearsonii

Rhinolophus pearsonii

Rhinolophus pearsonii

Features:The body hair is long and soft, tan or dark brown.

Rhinolophus pearsonii (Rhinolophus pearsonii) is a member of the Rhinolophidae, genus Rhinolophus. The body size is medium, from the side view, the joint protrudent tip is low round, and there is no concave gap between the saddle-like structure, from the front view, the saddle-like structure is narr...