Greater horseshoe bat

Rhinolophus ferrumequinum · The greater horseshoe bat is a large insect-eating bat found across Europe, North Africa, and Central and Eastern Asia.

Greater horseshoe bat
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0
Greater horseshoe bat
Photo: Kingfiser, CC BY-SA 4.0
Greater horseshoe bat
Photo: Marie Jullion, CC BY-SA 3.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderChiroptera
FamilyRhinolophidae
GenusRhinolophus
SpeciesRhinolophus ferrumequinum

Where it lives

Europe, North Africa, and across Asia to China, Korea and Japan.

Fun facts

  • It echolocates using calls between 69–83 kHz, with most of the sound energy concentrated at 81 kHz.
  • Despite weighing only up to 30 grams, this bat can live as long as 30 years.
  • It can snatch food right off the ground while still in flight, and even drinks water while hovering low over the surface.
  • Cow pats are so important to its diet that a single pat can hold up to 100 dung beetle larvae for the bats to eat.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).