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Information about Bumblebee Bat

Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Chiroptera
Family:Craseonycteridae
Genus:Craseonycteris
Species:C. thonglongyai
Binomial name
Craseonycteris thonglongyai
Hill, 1974
The Bumblebee Bat, or perhaps more correctly Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat, (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) is the world's smallest species of bat at 30-40 mm in length and weighing approximately 2 grams (about the weight of a dime). It is the only known species in its genus and is found in a tiny region of western Thailand, in the Sai Yok National Park, Kanchanaburi Province. Recently, it has also been discovered in adjacent Myanmar.

The skull of the Bumblebee Bat, at 11 mm, is smaller than that of any other mammal. The "Bumblebee" appellation derives from the bats' comparative size to the insect it is named after. Bumblebee bats compete with the Etruscan Pygmy Shrew for the title of world's smallest mammal. At issue is whether skull size or mass defines "smallest"; the shrew is lighter but the bat's skull is shorter at 11 mm.

The Bumblebee Bat has reddish-brown upperparts, although the species seems to occur as another color phase that has greyer upperparts. The underside is always a paler version of the top. The ears are relatively large and extend beyond the rather pig-like snout when lying forward.

They are most active at dusk when they fly around the tops of bamboo clumps and teak trees to feed on insects. The wings are quite long and broad with pointed tips and dark membrane. They seem to be shaped for hovering flight and indeed gut contents of specimens do include spiders as well as small insects that have been gleaned off foliage. The bumblebee bat also catches insects in flight.

Bumblebee Bats roost in the hot upper chambers of caves in limestone hills, just about as far away from the entrance as possible so that the small colony — up to 15 individuals — can fit without the bats being too close to each other.

Bumblebee bats are small both in size and in number and were unknown to the world at large prior to 1974. They were first located in 1973 by Thai biologist Kitti Thonglongya, who sent a few specimens to his British colleague, John E. Hill. When Kitti Thonglongya died suddenly in February 1974, John Hill described the species and named it in honor of its discoverer. Their already restricted habitat has been highly affected by deforestation and unsustainable levels of teak logging. In 1982, the Royal Forest Department of the Thailand Government only found 160 of them living in 3 caves, despite extensive surveys. Bumblebee bats are now considered to be one of the twelve most endangered species on the planet.

The Bumblebee Bat's wingspan can be up to 17cm.

References

External links

  • For more information, see the Animal Diversity web page on the bumblebee.
  • Historical record: bumble bee declared endangered [https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/frdocs/1984/84-1721.pdf Jan 1984].
  • Stella Luna
conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing the conservation status of a species: not simply the number remaining, but the
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endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in number, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters.
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IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List), created in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species.
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Mammalia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses & Infraclasses
  • Subclass †Allotheria*
  • Subclass Prototheria
  • Subclass Theria

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BAT may refer to:
  • Baby AT, a variant of the AT form factor
  • Bangor Area Transit
  • B.A.T., "Bureau of Astral Troubleshooters", a 1990 computer game
  • Batch file, ".BAT", MS-DOS, OS/2, and Windows shell programs
  • BAT (G.I.

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binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. The system is also called binominal nomenclature (particularly in zoological circles), binary nomenclature (particularly in botanical circles), or the binomial classification system.
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1 millimetre =
SI units
010−3 m 0 cm
US customary / Imperial units
010−3 ft 010−3 in
The millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm
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Gram
Unit sign g
Measure Mass
Base Unit Kilogram
Multiple of Base 10−3
System SI, CGS, other
Common usage Commonly used in cooking and food labeling
Examples
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Dime or DIME may refer to:
  • Dime (United States coin)
  • Dime (Canadian coin)
  • Dime (slang)
  • Dime (basketball), an assist in basketball
  • Dime (album), the third Spanish album from Guardian
  • Dime novel
  • Dime Bar, a chocolate bar

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species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
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genus (plural: genera) is part of the Latinized name for an organism. It is a name which reflects the classification of the organism by grouping it with other closely similar organisms.
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Anthem
Phleng Chat
Royal anthem
Phleng Sansoen Phra Barami

Capital
(and largest city) Bangkok [1]

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Kanchanaburi (Thai: กาญจนบุรี) is the largest of the central provinces (changwat) of Thailand.
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Anthem
Kaba Ma Kyei


Capital Naypyidaw

Largest city Yangon (Rangoon)
Official languages Burmese
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Mammalia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses & Infraclasses
  • Subclass †Allotheria*
  • Subclass Prototheria
  • Subclass Theria

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Bombini

Genus: Bombus
Latreille, 1802

Species

more than 250 species and subspecies in 38 subgenera

Bumblebees (also spelled bumble bee, also known as humblebee
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S. etruscus

Binomial name
Suncus etruscus
(Savi, 1822)

The Etruscan Shrew (Suncus etruscus) , also known as the Etruscan Pygmy Shrew or the White-toothed Pygmy Shrew
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Mammalia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses & Infraclasses
  • Subclass †Allotheria*
  • Subclass Prototheria
  • Subclass Theria

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skull is a bony structure found in many animals which serves as the general framework for the head. The skull supports the structures of the face and protects the head against injury.

The skull can be subdivided into two parts: the cranium and the mandible.
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Mass is a fundamental concept in physics, roughly corresponding to the intuitive idea of "how much matter there is in an object". Mass is a central concept of classical mechanics and related subjects, and there are several definitions of mass within the framework of relativistic
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outer ear is the most external portion of the ear. The outer ear includes the pinnae (also called auricle), the ear canal, and the very most superficial layer of the ear drum (also called the tympanic membrane).
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Sus
Linnaeus, 1758

Species

Sus barbatus
Sus bucculentus†
Sus cebifrons
Sus celebensis
Sus domestica
Sus falconeri†
Sus heureni

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Bambuseae
Kunth ex Dumort.

Diversity
Around 91 genera and 1,000 species

Subtribes
  • Arthrostylidiinae
  • Arundinariinae
  • Bambusinae
  • Chusqueinae
  • Guaduinae
  • Melocanninae
  • Nastinae
  • Racemobambodinae
  • Shibataeinae

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Insecta
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders
Subclass Apterygota
* Archaeognatha (bristletails)
* Thysanura (silverfish)
Subclass Pterygota
* Infraclass Paleoptera (Probably paraphyletic)

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Araneae
Clerck, 1757

Diversity
111 families, 40,000 species

Suborders

Mesothelae
Mygalomorphae
Araneomorphae
 See table of families

Spiders
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cave is a natural underground void large enough for a human to enter. Some people suggest that the term 'cave' should only apply to cavities that have some part which does not receive daylight; however, in popular usage, the term includes smaller spaces like sea caves, rock
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Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite (calcium carbonate: CaCO3). Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or flint, as well as varying amounts of clay, silt and sand as disseminations, nodules, or layers
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