lesser sheath-tailed bat

Fascinating facts about the lesser sheath-tailed bat

• A pouch of skin runs along the lesser sheath-tailed bat's tail like a sleeping bag seam — and they can flip it inside out. Scientists still debate what it does: some think it's a scent gland for marking territory, others suspect it stores insects mid-flight, or releases pheromones to attract mates. Despite decades of study, this Southeast Asian bat keeps its secret.
• Their echolocation calls spike to 150 decibels, among the loudest screams any mammal produces, yet the bat hears them through bones in its skull rather than ear canals. This bone-conduction hearing means they can hunt in the chaos of tropical rainforest — where leaves, rain, and thousands of other insects create acoustic noise — and still pinpoint a mosquito-sized target in complete darkness.
• Lesser sheath-tailed bats roost upside-down in tree crevices and caves in groups that can exceed 1,000 individuals, yet they maintain individual social bonds and remember roost-mates for years. They groom each other, share food regurgitated as pre-chewed insects, and adjust their body temperature collectively — a huddle of 50 bats can raise the air temperature around them by up to 8°C.
• Flying through the dense Southeast Asian rainforest canopy at speeds up to 40 km/h, they navigate gaps between leaves smaller than their 18-centimetre wingspan using echolocation pulses fired 10 times per second. Their wing muscles make up 30% of their body weight — proportionally, that's like a human whose arms weighed 45 kilograms.
• Females give birth to a single pup once or twice yearly and carry the newborn on their body during hunting flights for the first 3–4 weeks, burning double their normal energy while lactating and flying. This metabolic demand may explain why lesser sheath-tailed bats cluster in large roosts — the shared warmth reduces how hard each mother's body has to work to fuel milk production.

At a glance

About the lesser sheath-tailed bat

In the twilight skies of the tropical forests, the lesser sheath-tailed bat dances on the wind, its delicate form silhouetted against the fading light as it pursues the evening's insect prey with agile, aerobatic ease. With each beat of its wings, the bat navigates the dense canopy with precision, its high-pitched calls echoing through the trees as it expertly exploits the abundant insect life that throngs the forest's upper reaches. As it flits and weaves, the bat's remarkable adaptability and agility are a testament to its enduring presence in these rich, vibrant ecosystems.

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