Lesser Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus hipposideros (André, 1797)

Lesser Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus hipposideros (André, 1797)

“…This behaviour is observed during the cooler parts of the day in roosts in buildings and almost continually in cave roosts, where the colony huddles tightly together and shares body heat; reducing the cost of thermogenesis compared to roosting separately (Gilbert, 2010). The mean temperature within clusters of lesser horseshoe bats is 30.9°C (Schofield, 1996), this was 14.6°C warmer than the temperature at a control point 0.5m away (Fig. 3).…”

“…Although there have been histological studies exceptionally showing twin foetuses in the uterus, there are no records of births of twins in lesser horseshoe bats and Gaisler (1966) speculates that the second foetus may be reabsorbed. This makes sense as the pup is large at 34% of the lean body mass of females (Schofield, 1996). The mean forearm length of the pups at birth reflects the clinal size variation in the species across Europe with those in the Britain having mean forearm length of 16.7mm and a mean mass of 1.85g compared to 17.5mm and 2.0g in Austria (Schofield, 1996, Reiter, 2004a, no detectable differences are recorded between the sexes in the forearm length or mass at birth.…”

“…This makes sense as the pup is large at 34% of the lean body mass of females (Schofield, 1996). The mean forearm length of the pups at birth reflects the clinal size variation in the species across Europe with those in the Britain having mean forearm length of 16.7mm and a mean mass of 1.85g compared to 17.5mm and 2.0g in Austria (Schofield, 1996, Reiter, 2004a, no detectable differences are recorded between the sexes in the forearm length or mass at birth. Females develop false nipples in the pelvic region after birth and these are used by pups to grip with their teeth and grasp around mother's neck with feet so they can be carried around the roost and when the mother is foraging in first week or so following birth until the pups get too large to carry.…”

“…Gestation in lesser horseshoe bats is long, around 75 days (Gaisler, 1966) but this is also subject to weather conditions. Consequently, the timing of births is strongly influenced by spring temperatures (Schofield, 1996, Reiter, 2004a. Births in a colony are spread out over a three-to-four-week period with the first births in central and western Europe typically occurring from late June to early July (Reiter, 2004a), it is likely that this is earlier in the warmer climates of southern Europe.…”

Social networks of the greater horseshoe bat during the hibernation season: a landscape-scale case study

“…These results stress the importance of these smaller sites to the movement and interaction of R. ferrumequinum, increasing connectivity and encounter rates at larger geographic scales. When considering how to facilitate the restoration of species across a landscape (or conversely how to prevent fragmentation of populations), such small sites may play a critical role (Schofield, 1996). Understanding which physical features in the landscape act as barriers to movements, or how alterations to the environment can influence social structures, can be vital for conservation (He et al, 2019).…”