Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

A report on chiropterological investigations in some major caves of East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya, India


Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India, North Eastern Regional Centre, Shillong – 793003, India
 

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


An investigation was conducted to determine the diversity and abundance of bat fauna in some of the major caves of east Jaintia hills district of Meghalaya. A total of 11 bat species of 04 families were recorded from the surveyed caves. A few of the caves were found to be devoid of any discernable bat population while another few still harbour a significant populations of several bat species and thus could be priority areas for future conservation initiatives.

Keywords

Cave, Chiroptera, Conservation, Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya.
User
Subscription Login to verify subscription
Notifications
Font Size

  • Arbenz T. 2012. Cave pearls of Meghalaya. A cave inventory covering Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya, India. Volume 1: Pala Range and Kopili River. Replika Press, India, p 265
  • Bates, P.J.J. and Harrison, D.L. 1997. Bats of the Indian subcontinent. Harrison Zoological Museum, Kent, 268pp.
  • Csorba, G., Ujhelyi P. and Thomas N. 2003. Horseshoe bats of the world (Chiroptera:Rhinolophidae). Alana Books, 160pp
  • Kunz, T.H. 1982. Roosting ecology of bats. In: Kunz T.H. (ed): Ecology of Bats, Plenum Press, New York, pp 1-55 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3421-7_1 PMid:7061994
  • Ruedi M., Biswas, J., Chachula, O. and Arbenz, T. 2012. A winter survey of bats from the Jaintia Hills with a synopsis of their diversity in Meghalaya In: Arbenz T. (Ed). Cave pearls of Meghalaya. Vol I Pala Range and Kopili Valley, 87-105, Abode of Cloud project, Switzerland. PMCid:PMC3415991
  • Ruedi, M., Mukhim, K.B.,Chachula, O., Arbenz, T. and Thabah, A. 2014. Discovery of new colonies of the rare Wroughton’s free-tailed bat Otomops wroughtoni (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Molossidae) in Meghalaya, northeastern India. J. Threat. Taxa, 6: 6677–6682. https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o4164.6677-82
  • Saikia U., Csorba, G. and Ruedi, M. 2017. First records of Hypsugo joffrei (Thomas, 1915) and the revision of Philetor brachypterus (Temminck, 1840) (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the Indian Subcontinent. Rev. suisse Zool, 124(1): 83-89
  • Saikia, U., Thabah, A., Chachula, O.M. and Ruedi, M 2018 The bat fauna of Meghalaya, Northeast India: Diversity and conservation. In Venkataraman and Sivaperuman (Eds): Indian Hotspots: Vertebrate faunal diversity, conservation and management, Springer Nature Singapore, 263-286pp
  • Saikia, U. (2018) A review of chiropterological studies and a distributional list of the bat fauna of India. Rec. zool. Surv. India, 118(3):242-280
  • Sinha, Y.P. (1999) Bats of the Siju cave, South Garo Hills, Meghalaya, India: Taxonomy and Bionomics. Rec. Zool. Surv.India, 97(1): 101-122
  • Tringham, M.E. 2012. Geology In: Arbenz T (ed): Cave pearls of Meghalaya. Vol I Pala Range and Kopili Valley, Abode of Cloud project, Switzerland, pp. 16-19
  • Thong, Vu Dinh, Xiuguang Mao, Gabor Csorba, Paul Bates, Manuel Ruedi, Nguyen Van Viet, Dao Nhan Loi, Pham Van Nha, Oana Chachula, Tran Anh Tuan, Nguyen Turong Son, Dai Fukui, Vuong Tan Tu and Uttam Saikia, 2018. First records of Myotis altarium (Chiroptera:Vespertilionidae) from India and Vietnam. Mammal Study, 43: 67-73 https://doi.org/10.3106/ms2017-0076

Abstract Views: 357

PDF Views: 188




  • A report on chiropterological investigations in some major caves of East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya, India

Abstract Views: 357  |  PDF Views: 188

Authors

Uttam Saikia
Zoological Survey of India, North Eastern Regional Centre, Shillong – 793003, India

Abstract


An investigation was conducted to determine the diversity and abundance of bat fauna in some of the major caves of east Jaintia hills district of Meghalaya. A total of 11 bat species of 04 families were recorded from the surveyed caves. A few of the caves were found to be devoid of any discernable bat population while another few still harbour a significant populations of several bat species and thus could be priority areas for future conservation initiatives.

Keywords


Cave, Chiroptera, Conservation, Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi%2Fv118%2Fi4%2F2018%2F123281