New records of Short-nosed Fruit Bat Cynopterus sphinx (Vahl, 1797) from Thar Desert, Rajasthan

Abstract

© Zoo Outreach Organisation; www.zoosprint.org Manuscript 1428; Received 03 September 2005; Revised received 14 July 2006; Finally accepted 20 August 2006; Date of publication 21 September 2006 The Short-nosed Fruit Bat Cynopterus sphinx is distributed widely in the Indian subcontinent and in south-east Asia. Within India it occurs commonly and is widespread (Bates & Harrison, 1997; Molur et al., 2002). Although it has been reported from southern and southwestern Rajasthan (Sinha, 1980; Advani, 1982; Molur et al., 2002; Dookia, 2004), we could find no previous reference to its presence in the parts of northwestern Rajasthan. Recently, we recorded this species for the first time in Thar desert of Jaisalmer and Jodhpur districts of Rajasthan (Fig. 1).