Reproduction in the rat-tailed bat Rhinopoma kinneari

Abstract

A detailed study of the reproductive habits of Rhinopoma kinneari (Wroughton) inhabiting a semi-arid region of India (Jodhpur) was made to fill in the paucity of such information in the Family Rhinopomatidae. The reproductive pattern of Rhinopoma can be related to its seasonal movement which occurs just before and immediately after its winter torpor. The testes are permanently abdominal and these together with the accessory reproductive organs experience an annual sexual cycle. The females are monoestrous, breed in March and bring forth a single young during July-August. Pregnancy lasts for at least 123 days and parturition occurs by head presentation. The young are weaned after six to eight weeks of suckling and attain sexual maturity in their second year of age.