270.

Sody’s Yellow Bat

Scotophilus collinus

French: Scotophile de Sody / German: Sody-Hausfledermaus / Spanish: Scotofilo de Sody

Other common names: Sody'’s Yellow House Bat

Taxonomy. Scotophilus temmincki collinus Sody, 1936, Djembrana (= Jembrana Regency), ca. 50 m, Bali, Indonesia.

Scotophilus collinus has often been included under S. kuhlii, but it is generally recognized as a distinct species based on morphology. There might be two subspecies of S. collinus based on morphometric analyses: one In the east and the other in the west. Monotypic.

Distribution. NW & C Borneo, W Java, Bali, Lombok, Flores, Lembata, Sumba, Sawu, Timor, Semau, Roti, Banda, and Aru Is.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 55- 7-71 mm, tail 27- 8-52 mm, ear 12:3-15- 1 mm, hindfoot 6-7-9- 7 mm, forearm 44-5-51- 9 mm; weight 18-23 g. Sody’s Yellow Bat is similar to the Lesser Asiatic Yellow Bat (S. kuhlii). Western form has smaller average skull characteristics than eastern form, but external measurements are generally larger. Dorsal pelage is dark brown; venter is paler straw yellow. Bare skin is olive-brown. Muzzle is broad and blunt, with swollen glands on both sides and simple nostrils. Ears are small, with transverse ridges; antitragus is separated from posterior margin of ear by distinct notch and well developed; tragusis one-half the ear length and is crescent-shaped with basal notch. Tail extends c. 2-3 mm past margin of uropatagium. Compared with the Lesser Asiatic Yellow Bat, skull is shorter; rostrum is broader; cranium is broad but less inflated, giving slenderer impression; zygomatic width is considerably narrower; palate is broader; and mesopterygoid fossa and distance between cochleae are broad.

Habitat. Urban areas and rocky, forested offshore islands.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Sody’s Yellow Bat often roosts in roofs of houses.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Virtually nothing is known regarding ecology and threats of Sody’s Yellow Bat. It is apparently common in some parts of Borneo.

Bibliography. Helgen & Wilson (2002), Kitchener et al. (1997), Phillipps & Phillipps (2016), Sinaga & Maryanto (2008).