Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Salim Ali's fruit bat (Latidens salimalii), recorded as Endangered
Salim Ali's fruit bat (Latidens salimalii). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Salim Ali's fruit bat

Latidens salimalii

Salim Ali's fruit bat is a rare megabat species in the monotypic genus Latidens.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Latidens salimalii
Taxonomy
Mammalia · Chiroptera · Pteropodidae · Latidens

Appearance

The head is covered by blackish brown fur and the wing is light brown in colour and the underparts are light grey-brown with the brown wing membrane (Patagium) hairless.

Body length is 10 cm, hindfeet 0.8–1.5 cm, forearm 6.6 cm.

Range and habitat

The first description of the bat was from a single specimen collected at an altitude of 750 meters in the High Wavy Mountains of the Annamalai Western Ghats, Theni district, Tamil Nadu, South India. It was first collected by Angus Hutton, a planter and naturalist in the High Wavy Mountains in the Western Ghats of Theni district, Tamil Nadu in South India in 1948.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

In crisis

Salim Ali's fruit bat was listed as critically endangered in 1996, and has been considered an endangered species since 2004. It meets the criteria for this designation because of its small population size of fewer than 1,000 individuals. Additionally, it is experiencing population decline, with the population expected to contract by a further 20% by 2032 due to hunting for bushmeat, loss and degradation of caves, and deforestation.

Salim Ali's fruit bat is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Salim Ali's fruit bat, Wikidata item Q301489. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Also in this catalog

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Vaquita

Phocoena sinus
Photograph of Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus
Photograph of Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Sumatran orangutan

Pongo abelii
Photograph of Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Axolotl

Ambystoma mexicanum

Quick answers

What is Salim Ali's fruit bat?
Salim Ali's fruit bat is a rare megabat species in the monotypic genus Latidens.
What is the conservation status of Salim Ali's fruit bat?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Latidens salimalii. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Salim Ali's fruit bat live?
The first description of the bat was from a single specimen collected at an altitude of 750 meters in the High Wavy Mountains of the Annamalai Western Ghats, Theni district, Tamil Nadu, South India.
Why is Salim Ali's fruit bat in crisis?
It meets the criteria for this designation because of its small population size of fewer than 1,000 individuals.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Latidens salimalii?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Salim Ali's fruit bat a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.