Rec. zool. Surv. India: Vol. 118(3)/ 242-280, 2018 ISSN (Online) : (Applied for) DOI: 10.26515/rzsi/v118/i3/2018/121056 ISSN (Print) : 0375-1511 A review of Chiropterological studies and a distributional list of the Bat Fauna of India Uttam Saikia* Zoological Survey of India, Risa Colony, Shillong – 793014, Meghalaya, India;
[email protected] Abstract A historical review of studies on various aspects of the bat fauna of India is presented. Based on published information and study of museum specimens, an upto date checklist of the bat fauna of India including 127 species in 40 genera is being provided. Additionaly, new distribution localities for Indian bat species recorded after Bates and Harrison, 1997 is also provided. Since the systematic status of many species occurring in the country is unclear, it is proposed that an integrative taxonomic approach may be employed to accurately quantify the bat diversity of India. Keywords: Chiroptera, Checklist, Distribution, India, Review Introduction smallest one being Craseonycteris thonglongyai weighing about 2g and a wingspan of 12-13cm, while the largest Chiroptera, commonly known as bats is among the belong to the genus Pteropus weighing up to 1.5kg and a 29 extant mammalian Orders (Wilson and Reeder, wing span over 2m (Arita and Fenton, 1997). 2005) and is a remarkable group from evolutionary and Bats are nocturnal and usually spend the daylight hours zoogeographic point of view. Chiroptera represent one roosting in caves, rock crevices, foliages or various man- of the most speciose and ubiquitous orders of mammals made structures. Some bats are solitary while others are (Eick et al., 2005).