Occurrence of Pipistrellus tenuis in Goalpara, Assam, India | InformativeBD

Jugal Kishore Talukdar, and  Akshay Kumar Haloi, from the different institute of the India. wrote a research article about, Occurrence of Pipistrellus tenuis in Goalpara, Assam, India. entitled, The occurence of the least pipistrelle Bat, Pipistrellus tenuis (Temminck, 1840) (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in Goalpara District, Assam, India. This research paper published by the Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences (JBES). an open access scholarly research journal on Biodiversity. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences | NNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

A recent survey identified a colony of Pipistrellus tenuis (n = 5) in Kanyakuchi Pahar village (26°00’32.8″N 90°53’29.0″E), a rural remote site situated at Goalpara district of Assam. This species, commonly known as the Least Pipistrelle, was previously reported by Hinton and Lindsay (1926), Sinha (1999), Ghosh (2008), Saikia et al. (2011) and Boro et al. (2018) from different parts of Assam. The Goalpara district of western Assam is encircled by the foothills of Meghalaya to the South and the Brahmaputra River to the North possesses a variety of flora and fauna due to the dense foliage of the high forest canopy. The climatic condition of the region along with its topography favours roosting of bat population. The distribution of the bat species P. tenuis in the surveyed area has not been previously recorded. For the purpose of taxonomic identification, morphometric parameters (external and cranio-dental measurements) were compared to standard literature by Bates and Harrison (1997). Captured bat specimens (n=3) were examined at the ZSI (Zoological Survey of India), NERC-Shillong, Meghalaya. The recorded mean body weight of captured specimens was 2.61g ± 0.160 (S.D) and the mean forearm length (FA) was 27.39mm ± 0.165 (S.D). This manuscript validates sightings of this bat species at the study location, compares its morphometric and cranio-dental traits to standard literature (Bates and Harrison, 1997) for identification, discusses its distribution as well as its ecological importance.

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Introduction

Bats are the only mammals that can fly for long periods of time, making them the second-largest order of mammals with over 1,400 different species. The two suborders of bats, Microchiroptera (echolocating bats) and Megachiroptera (Old World bats) make up the taxonomic group Chiroptera. 127 species of bats from India were listed by Talmale and Saikia (2018) and were categorised into 41 genera and 9 families. About 39 different bat species, divided into 16 genera, are found in Assam, including 34 Microchiropteran species and 5 Megachiropteran species (fruit bats) (Ali, 2022). The Himalaya and Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, which includes Northeast India, contains 74 species of the 127 species of bats that are known to exist in India (Saikia, 2019). There are nine families in the order Chiroptera that are represented in India: Pteropodidae, Megadermatidae, Hipposideridae, Rhinolophidae, Emballonuridae, Rhinopomatidae, Molossidae, Vespertilionidae, and Miniopteridae.

With 62 species, the family Vespertilionidae (commonly known as evening bats) is the most diverse and numerous family of bats found in India (Saikia 2019; Ali, 2022). The tiniest pipistrelle found in the Indian subcontinent belongs to the Vespertilionidae family and is known as the least pipistrelle (Figs. 2 and 3). The genus Pipistrellus has 51 species worldwide, including 12 species being found on the Indian subcontinent (Koopman, 1993). It's prevalent over the majority of Southeast Asia, Southeast China, and South Asia (Simmons, 2005). This species is found in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka (Molur et al., 2002; Das, 2003; Vanitharanie, 2006; Korad, 2007). This bat occasionally shares a roost with Indian Pipistrelles, but they don't interact with one another. They frequently form colonies of 1 to 25 individuals and are present in both woodlands and populated places and often prefer living in close proximity to human population. They build their nests in trees, leaf canopies, the ceilings or walls of buildings, and abandoned homes (Francis et al., 2010). Seasonal variations in the species' diet are evident.

It consumes a variety of insects and beetles during the monsoon and summer, and termites, cockroaches, wingless ants, and moths during the winter (Hamidullah et al., 2019).

P. tenuis are categorised as insectivorous bats in terms of preferred diet and feeding habits. A typical pipistrelle bat can often consume one-third of its body weight in insects per night, significantly lowering the number of insects. They devour a lot of insects at night, which costs the US $3.7 billion in pest control every year. It has been shown, according to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the University of Michigan that places with insectivorous bat populations greatly reduce the amount of insects and plant damage (Kalka et al., 2008). Recent study on the reproductive activity of the P. tenuis species indicate that there are two peaks between the months of July and August, and one between February and March. The greatest abundance of prey occurred during each of these times. In China and India, pregnant and nursing females have been spotted at all times of the year, proving that reproduction is possible all year long (Wilson and Mittermeier, 2019). Due to their nocturnal lifestyle and ecological diversity, bats are a fascinating group of animals as well as a difficult species to research.

A number of researchers from the Zoological Survey of India and other institutions have made significant contributions to the study of Indian bat taxonomy and geographic distribution in the post-independence era. Some of the most important revisions of the geographical range and taxonomy of Indian bats include Brosset (1962abc, 1963); Hill and Corbett (1992); Bhat and Kock (1994); Sinha (1970, 1973, 1999); Bates & Harrison (1997); Pradhan (2008); Das (2003); Csorba et al. (2003); Ramarkishna et al. (2003); Ghosh (2005, 2008); Srinivasulu (2001, 2006); Alfred, (2006). A monograph by Bates & Harrison (1997) listed 28 species of bats from Assam. Recently, there are only a few significant works on the study of different species of bats in the state of Assam by Sinha (1999), Ghosh (2008) and Boro et al. (2013; 2015; 2018), Ali (2010; 2022), Rahman and Choudhury (2017), Saikia et al. (2011; 2018; 2019; 2021).

Furthermore, little is known about the distribution and taxonomic status of bats, notably microchiroptera, in the Assam region. This article aims to investigate the distribution and current status of the Pipistrellus genus in Assam's Goalpara district. This paper on Pipistrellus tenuis occurence is the first at the study site (Fig. 1) and is based on measurements of morphometric features in comparison to current standard literature (Bates and Harrison, 1997).

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 Source : The occurence of the least pipistrelle Bat, Pipistrellus tenuis (Temminck, 1840) (Chiroptera:Vespertilionidae) in Goalpara District, Assam, India 

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Indian Flying Fox in Goalpara, Assam: Roost Ecology & Behavior | InformativeBD

JK. Talukdar, and  AK. Haloi from the different institute of the india, wrote a research article about Indian Flying Fox in Goalpara, Assam: Roost Ecology & Behavior, entitled, "Roost ecology, population size, behavioral patterns and morphometric analysis of Indian flying fox (Pteropus medius; Temminck, 1825) in the Goalpara District of Assam, India". This research paper published by the International Journal of Biosciences | IJB. an open access scholarly research journal on Biosciences.  under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences | INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

The present study was conducted at Krishnai Forest Range Office Campus (26°2′ 0″ North, 90°40′ 0″ East) situated at Goalpara district of Assam. Throughout the pre-monsoon season (March–May 2022), the survey location was periodically visited. The current study aims to identify the numerous roosting trees used by Indian flying foxes (P. medius), their diurnal behavioral pattern, and to assess the population size of the species together with their morphometric variations. A large mean colony size (5479 332.99) of P. medius bats was found in the study site, residing in a number of preferred roosting trees (n = 101). In April 2022, a population count of 5509 bats was recorded as the mean population size. However, the population count varies in March (5871) and May (5057). Population fluctuation was mainly due to inter-colony migration and other environmental factors. A very high population density of 4094.91 was recorded. Direct roost count method was used to estimate the population size following standard literature key (Bates and Harrison, 1997). Different times of the day were used to record the diurnal roosting habit patterns of the bats. The most frequent behavior was sleeping, which was followed by grooming, wing flapping, and wing spreading. Two of the few captured bats (n) were used to analyze the morphometric variances. The average body weight of the specimens that were caught was 699 ± 26.87g, and the average forearm length was 172.05 ± 2.616g. When compared to the caught (P. medius) bat species, the mean value of the morphometric measurements revealed a substantial variation. Roosting site selection depends on their abundance, risk of predation, availability and distribution of food resources and physical environment. An essential species for maintaining the ecosystem’s equilibrium is the Indian flying fox. For the reforestation of the forest environment, it is regarded as a crucial method of seed dissemination and pollination. The study site was selected based on the very fact that earlier no prior study was carried out in this roosting site and proved to be a significant area sustaining bats for more than 30 years with approximately 80-85 % of the species (P. medius) roosts as year round. 

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Introduction

Bats are the unique group of sustained-flight mammals like birds belonging to the order Chiroptera (Adhikari et al., 2010). Chiroptera (bats) account for one-fifth of mammalian species and are the second largest among 26 mammalian orders (Suga, 2009; Srinivasulu et al., 2010). Traditionally, the order Chiroptera is divided into two distinct suborders Megachiroptera are Old World flying foxes distributed within a family of 01 and the Microchiroptera includes laryngeal echolocating bats and are distributed around 18 families (Mickleburgh et al., 1992; Koopman, 1993; Hutson et al., 2001, Simmons, 2005; Srinivasulu et al., 2010, Saikia, 2019). However, using molecular and phylogenetic methods, scientists have proposed a new subdivision of Chiroptera, namely Yinpterochiroptera, which includes the megabat family Pteropodidae along with the Microbat families Rhinolophidae, Rhinopomatidae, and Megadermatidae, and Yangochiroptera including the remaining Microbat families (Teeling et al., 2002). Bats are distributed worldwide and are more ecologically diverse than any other group of mammals (Handley et al., 1996). They are widespread and have been recorded worldwide, with the exception of Antarctica and some oceanic islands (Mickleburgh et al., 2002). More than 1,400 bat species are known worldwide, 190 species belong to the suborder Megachiroptera, which is distributed within a single family Pteropodidae (Bat Conservation International 2021; Talmale et al., 2018).

There are 14 species of Pteropodidae in India and members of this family are colloquially known as flying foxes (Saikia et al., 2018). The Indian fruit bat (Pteropus medius) is a species of fruit bat in the Pteropodidae family. The Indian flying fox is known locally as Pholkhowa Borbaduli (Frugivorous; large bat) in Assamese. Pteropus medius is a social species living in a large daytime roost and is one of the largest flying fox species of the subcontinent stretching from Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan to Sri Lanka (Khatun, 2014). Most fruit bats studied are moderately or strongly colonial (Rainey et al., 1992). Perhaps some of them form colonies comprising a few hundred to millions of individuals (Nowak, 1999).

Their good sense of smell and sight locate sources of ripe fruit. Flowering plants are a good and preferred food source and all fruit bat species feed only on nectar, flowers, pollen and fruit, which explains their limited tropical distribution. It is considered to be an essential means of seed dispersal and pollination for reforestation of the forest ecosystem (Ali, 2010). 

Indian flying fox is one of the beneficial members of the animal community that acts as a key species to keep the ecosystem in balance. Despite their high utilitarian role, these bats are mistreated in India and are highly vulnerable to environmental nuisance. Many resting populations of the species have declined sharply in response to anthropogenic activity.

They are increasingly threatened locally by the hunt for meat and medicine, the felling of roosting trees for road construction and other development purposes have hit the Indian fruit bat population acutely (Bhandarkar et al., 2018). There is no official protection for Indian fruit bats or the other two species of fruit bats in India and indeed the Government of India's Wildlife Protection Act 1972 included them all in the schedule IV- Vermin (ENVIS, 2022). The species requires appropriate conservation measures to protect and continue its ecological role in restoring forests.

Although Northeast India has a rich diversity of bats, this mammalian species has been studied very little in the region. The north-eastern region of India has an exceptional wealth of mammals, including over 70 bat species, some of which have only recently been described or reported (Bates & Harrison 1997; Thong et al., 2018). In Assam, there is very little published material on the Indian flying fox or the bat community as a whole (Sharma et al., 2020). 

A monograph by Bates & Harrison (1997) listed 28 bat species from Assam. The state's bat diversity is apparently not very high, comprising about 30 recorded species (Ali, 2022). A very limited information regarding the status of bat diversity in the state has found it mentioned in (Bates & Harrison 1997; Sinha, 1999; Ali et al., 2010; Boro et al., 2013; Boro & Saikia, 2015; Rahman et al., 2017; Sharma et al., 2020, Saikia et al., 2022; Ali, 2022). Considering the lack of comprehensive surveys and field studies documenting the diversity, distribution and status of the state's bat fauna, the reported species richness in the region would undoubtedly be an underestimate (Saikia et al., 2018). This study was an initial effort in the area, a newly located roosting site, with the goal of identifying the various roosting trees used by Indian flying foxes (P. medius), their diurnal behavioural pattern, and to estimate the population size as well as their morphometric variations.

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Source: Roost ecology, population size, behavioral patterns and morphometric analysis of Indian flying fox (Pteropus medius; Temminck, 1825) in the Goalpara District of Assam, India

 

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