#nycteridae

Hairy Slit-faced Bat Nycteris hispida

A bat widely distributed throughout forests and savannas in sub-Saharan Africa.

Egyptian Slit-faced Bat (Nycteris thebaica)

A species of microbat broadly distributed throughout Africa and the Middle East. They occupy two roosts, using the daytime roost to rest, while only spending a few hours in the night roost before going out to forage. They eat different types of insects depending on the season.

Javan Slit-Faced Bat (Nycteris javanica)

Unfinished sketch here. Hoping to take some time to fix some proportions and clean it up later, but tonight I’m too tired.

Slit-faced bats are so named because of the narrow, conspicuous divot in the middle of their faces. This and the unusual skin-flaps over their noses probably has something to do with shaping the sounds of their echolocation, which is very soft and subtle. They are adept at hovering and prefer to take prey by gleaning (i.e., plucking stationary prey off leaves or off the ground) rather than by catching it in midair.

When slit-faced bats move close to stationary prey, they stop echolocating to avoid detection and use their huge ears to hone in on the prey’s tiny movements. (Some slit-faced bats will even use this method on roosting birds, though the Javan slit-faced bat is too small to tackle them.)