Mammals · Chiroptera · Craseonycteridae

Hog-nosed Bat

Craseonycteris thonglongyai

Near Threatened

It could become endangered in the near future if current threats go unchecked. See full glossary

Kitti's hog-nosed bat, also called the bumblebee bat, is one of the smallest mammals in the world: it weighs around two grams and measures some three centimetres. It owes its name to a flattened muzzle with nostrils shaped like a pig's snout. It lives in colonies inside limestone caves and comes out to hunt insects for very short spells, at dusk and at dawn. Its range is tiny and highly fragmented, tied to a handful of karst systems.

Weight

2 g – 2 g

Size

2.9 cm – 3.3 cm

Diet

Insectivore

Feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates.

Activity

Crepuscular

Active above all at dawn and dusk.

Social structure

Colony

Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.

Sighting difficulty

Moderate

Temperate forestFreshwaterInsectivore Crepuscular Colonial Near Threatened Temperate forest Freshwater Mammal

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Fun facts

GeneralThe smallest mammal in the world: 2 grams and a 3 cm body.
récordIt is the smallest mammal in the world by body length, at barely 29-33 millimetres and some 2 grams, discovered in caves in Thailand in 1974.
It competes with the Etruscan shrew for the title of smallest mammal on the planet: it wins on length, but weighs about the same, some two grams.
It was discovered in 1973 by the Thai biologist Kitti Thonglongya, who died before he could describe it; his colleagues published the species and named it after him.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
Habitat & environment: Limestone caves beside rivers, and bamboo forest
Litter / clutch size: 1

Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/

Where to find it

See its range on the interactive map

Best time: All year round in western Thailand and south-eastern Myanmar, at dusk, near limestone caves; it comes out to hunt for only about thirty minutes at dawn and dusk.

Thailand Myanmar

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