Zulu serotine facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Zulu serotine |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Neoromicia
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| Species: |
zuluensis
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| Synonyms | |
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The Zulu serotine (Neoromicia zuluensis) is a small bat found in many parts of Africa. People also call it the Zulu pipistrelle, aloe bat, or aloe serotine. You can find this bat in countries like Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It likes to live in savanna areas and hot deserts.
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What Does the Zulu Serotine Bat Look Like?
The Zulu serotine is a very tiny microbat. Its head and body are about 75 mm (3 in) long. That's about the length of a small marker! Its forearm is about 30 mm (1.2 in) long. When its wings are spread out, they can reach about 225 mm (9 in) wide. This bat is also very light, weighing only between 3 and 6 g (0.1 and 0.2 oz). That's less than a few paperclips!
Its fur is soft and thick. The fur on its back is a medium brown color. The hairs have dark brownish-black parts with lighter brown tips. The fur on its belly is a lighter, grayish-brown. Its wing membranes are dark, and its tail is completely hidden by the skin between its legs.
Where Do Zulu Serotine Bats Live?
This bat lives in many places across eastern and southern Africa. There are two main groups of these bats. One group lives in the northern areas like Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya. The other group lives further south. This includes countries like Zambia, the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and South Africa.
In the northern areas, these bats live in semi-desert areas. They like places with shrubs and grass. This includes light forests and thick bushes with Acacia and Commiphora trees. In the southern areas, they live in wooded savannas. This includes miombo woodlands. In drier parts of their home, they live in bushland and shrubland. They can live at different heights, from 500 to 2,650 m (1,640 to 8,694 ft) above sea level.
How Do Zulu Serotine Bats Behave?
Zulu serotine bats fly quite fast and can move very well in the air. They can turn sharply, twist, and even stop quickly. They can also crawl on the ground and take off from it. These bats hunt for insects while flying. They use a special skill called echolocation to find their food. This means they send out sounds and listen for the echoes to create a picture of their surroundings.
They mostly eat moths and beetles. They hunt in open areas and around trees. You might see them flying between tree trunks and branches. Sometimes, they fly over water. It's not clear if they are hunting there or just drinking. These bats can make their urine very strong. This helps them save water. In fact, they can live for several days without water if they need to!
Zulu Serotine Bat Reproduction and Life Cycle
It seems that Zulu serotine bats have their babies early in the wet season. When they give birth, they usually have one or two young bats at a time. Scientists are still learning about where these bats sleep during the day.
