Taphozous theobaldi Dobson 1872
Creators: name: Bonaccorso, Frank
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Emballonuridae
Taphozous
Taphozous theobaldi

description: 8. Theobald’s Tomb Bat
Taphozous theobaldi
French: Taphien de Theobald I German: Theobald-Grabffledermaus / Spanish: Tafozo deTheobald
Other common names: Theobald's Bat
Taxonomy. Taphozous theobaldi Dobson, 1872,
Tenasserim, Burma.
Taphozous theobaldi is in the subgenus Taphozous. Two subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution.
. t. theobaldi Dobson, 1872 - Tenasserim, Myanmar.
. t. secatus Thomas, 1915 - Madhya Pradesh, India.
Boundaries and complete distribution for subspecies are unknown, but T theobaldi is patchily distributed from C & SW India (Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala), S China (Yunnan, imprecise locality and therefore not mapped), and SE Asia to Greater Sundas (Borneo, Java) and Sulawesi. Distribution is poorly known in India, and. theobaldi likely is more widespread than presently understood. It presumably will be found on other islands of the Indonesian Archipelago.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 88-95 mm, tail 25-30 mm, ear 22—28 mm, hindfoot 15-18 mm, forearm 70-76 mm; weight 40-50 g (estimated from forearm size). Dorsal fur of Theobald’s Tomb Bat is gray-brown to dark brown; bases of hairs are paler. Adult males have black beards. Well-developed, radio-metacarpal sacs are present in adult males. Legs, feet, and flight membranes are naked. Wing attaches above ankle to tibia.
Habitat. Moist forests from sea level to elevations of c.1200 m. Theobald’s Tomb Bats roost in large limestone caves with deep crevices.
Food and Feeding. Theobald’s Tomb Bat feeds on aerial insects while flying high above forest canopies.
Breeding. No information.
Activity patterns. No information.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Roost colonies of Theobald’s Tomb Bats vary from ten individuals to several thousands.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Theobald’s Tomb Bat has a large distribution and presumably large overall population, and it is not believed to be in serious population decline. It is threatened by disturbance and destruction of roosting sites and harvesting for bushmeat and medicinal purposes in parts of its distribution. Guano is mined from large roost colonies for use as fertilizer in South-east Asia. There are no direct conservation measures in place. Theobald’s Tomb Bat occurs in some protected areas in India including Silent Valley National Park in Kerala and Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra. Important roosting sites throughout its distribution should be protected. Studies of distribution, abundance, breeding biology, general ecology, and population trends are needed.
Bibliography. Bates & Harrison (1997), Bates, Bumrungsri, Walston et al. (2008), Bates, Harrison & Muni (1994a, 1994b, 1994c), Brasset (1963), Francis (2008a), Molur et al. (2002), Smith & Xie Yan (2008), Wang Yingxiang (2003).
description: Published as part of Bonaccorso, Frank, 2019, Emballonuridae, pp. 350-373 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 353-354, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3740269