Rhinonycteridae facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rhinonycteridae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Chiroptera
Superfamily:	Rhinolophoidea
Family:	Rhinonycteridae J.E. Gray, 1866

Rhinonycteridae is a family of bats. These bats are part of a larger group called Microchiroptera, also known as microbats. The most well-known species in this family is the orange leaf-nosed bat (Rhinonicteris aurantia). You can find this bat across northern Australia.

What Are Rhinonycterid Bats Like?

These bats are special because of their unique nose shape. Scientists look at the shape of their rhinarium (the bare skin around their nostrils) and their nose-leaf (a leaf-like skin flap on their nose) to tell them apart from other bat families. Think of it like a special ID card on their face! Scientists also use advanced tests, like looking at their DNA, to confirm they are a unique family.

How Scientists Classify These Bats

The name Rhinonycteridae was first suggested by John Edward Gray in 1866. He saw that certain microbats shared special features. Later, in 2014, scientists officially made Rhinonycteridae a full family. This helped to better organize different bat groups, especially those that were hard to classify before.

Why Bat Classification Matters

Understanding how bat families are related is very important for several reasons. For example, some bats can carry viruses like coronaviruses. These are the same types of viruses that caused outbreaks like SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome. By knowing which bat groups are distinct, scientists can better track and understand where these viruses might come from. This helps protect public health.

Scientists also use this classification to identify special groups of bats that are important for evolution. This helps in protecting different bat types.

A New Common Name

For a long time, these bats were called 'leaf-nosed bats'. But to avoid confusion with other bat families, scientists have suggested a new common name: trident bats. This name comes from the unique shape of their nose-leaf.

Where Do These Bats Live?

The Rhinonicteris genus, which includes the orange leaf-nosed bat, is special because it lives only in Australia. However, other bats in the Rhinonycteridae family are found in Africa and Madagascar. Scientists believe that these bats might have spread to new places by "island hopping" over long periods.

The oldest signs of this bat family in Australia show up around 15 to 20 million years ago. It's thought they traveled through Europe and Asia to get there.

Bat Species in Australia

The official list of Australian animals includes these bats:

• family Rhinonycteridae
  • genus Rhinonicteris
    • species Rhinonicteris aurantia (the orange leaf-nosed bat)
      • There's even a special group of Rhinonicteris aurantia called the Pilbara form, which lives in an isolated area.
    • species Rhinonicteris tedfordi (a fossil bat from millions of years ago, found in Australia)

Family Tree of Bats

Scientists have studied the DNA and body shapes of these bats very carefully. They found that Rhinonycteridae is a distinct family, separate from two other related bat families: Hipposideridae and Rhinolophidae.

All three of these families likely came from a common ancestor about 42 million years ago. The Hipposideridae and Rhinonycteridae families split apart around 39 million years ago. Scientists believe that the Rhinonycteridae family first appeared in Africa.

Here's a simplified look at how these families are grouped:

• family Hipposideridae
• family Rhinolophidae
• family Rhinonycteridae
  • genus Cloeotis
  • genus Brevipalatus
  • genus Brachipposideros
  • genus Paratriaenops
  • genus Rhinonicteris
  • genus Triaenops