EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Fruit Bat With a Purpose

Lesser Short-Nosed Fruit Bat (Cynopterus brachyotis), Family Pteropodidae
Mirror Cave, Flores, Indonesia

Explanation:  Not to get too teleological, or anthropomorphic, this bat has an important purpose.  This is a Lesser Short-Nosed Fruit Bat -- known as codot in Indonesian -- that performs important ecological functions.  And herein hangs a tale (or, in this case, a head).  

Lesser Short-Nosed Fruit Bats are widespread throughout Southeast Asia, and are generalist consumers.  In seeking their varied dietary interests, they play most important roles as seed dispersers and even as plant pollinators.  The species is even a special target for conservation to help with plant recolonization and regeneration of the vegetative biodiversity of an important tiger reserve in India.

They likely also are more genetically diverse than previously suspected, given their widespread occurrence on mainland and especially many islands of Southeast Asia, where they may be genetically divergent.  

I discovered this specimen while exploring the amazing Mirror Cave on Flores Island of Indonesia, outside the city of Labuan Bajo.  

Information:
    Mubarok, H., N.S.N. Handayani, I. Maryanto, and T. Arisuryanti.  2023.  Phylogenetic and genetic variation analysis of lesser short-nosed fruit bat Cynopterus brachyotis (Müller 1838) on Java island, Indonesia, inferred from mitochondrial D-loop.  Journal of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology 21, Article number 1, https://doi.org/10.1186/s43141-022-00460-y.
    Vanitharani, J., A. Paulina, R. V. Margaret, and K. Bharathi.  2011.  Role of Cynopterus brachyotis (Lesser Dog Faced Fruit Bat), Cynopterus sphinx (Short Nosed Fruit Bat) in forest restoration of Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve.  Pp. 445-455 in: C. Raghunathan, C. Sivaperuman, and K. Venkataraman, eds.  Recent Advances in Biodiversity of India.  Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India.