Rhinolophus
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| Horseshoe bats | ||||||||||||
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see separate list of Rhinolophus species |
The horseshoe bats of the Rhinolophus genus comprise approximately 69 individual species. This is the largest group within the Rhinolophidae family of bats, though they show very little in the way of ecological diversity and are very much a variation on the same theme.
Their common name comes from the large horseshoe-shaped nose leaf used for directing their ultrasound.
They have very broad, rounded wings and very fluttery flight patterns, the "archetypal flying bat". They occour over a wide range of temperate to tropical woodland and open habitat where they catch insects in mid flight and also glean insects and spiders off foliage whilst hovering in front of their prey.
They are thought to represent very closely the ancestral form of the "microbat" group and so are considered among the more primitive of the whole Microchiroptera.