How big does a Gambian epauletted fruit bat get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Gambian epauletted fruit bat (Epomophorus gambianus) reaches an average size of 15.6 cm (0′ 7″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 131 grams (0.29 lbs). On birth they have a weight of 10 grams (0.02 lbs). On average, Gambian epauletted fruit bats have offspring about 2 times per year. The Gambian epauletted fruit bat (genus: Epomophorus) is a member of the family Pteropodidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
The Gambian epauletted fruit bat (Epomophorus gambianus) is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae.The species is known to travel in packs and are also known to be tropical. It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Togo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, and moist savanna. It is threatened by habitat loss.Populations of epauletted fruit bats are threatened by pesticides on fruit, human disturbance and over-collecting in the past. However, the number one reason it may be threatened is habitat destruction.Mostly found in Africa, these creatures have grayish-brown color fur with a white patch at the base of their ear in both males and females. These fruit bats are also very noisy creatures. In the context of mating behavior (see “Reproduction” below), adult males may hang from perches and perform a calling-display during which they utter a moderately loud bell like ‘ping’ at intervals of 1–3 seconds.It is very easy to tell the male fruit bat from the female fruit bat. In comparison, males are usually larger than females. The males also have gland-like pouches in the skin of their shoulder, that is surrounded by light colored patches and/or tufts of fur. Thus, one of the reasons why they are named Gambian epauletted fruit bats, it produces the effect of epaulettes; a decorative or ornamental piece. The only way one would be able to see the epaulettes is when the male becomes stressed or sexually stimulated. Both males and females have small rounded ears, with a dog-like muzzle.Their head and body length are usually 125–250 mm (5–10 in) and their wing span is about 508 mm (20 in) for the males. Mass ranges from 40 to 120 g (1.4 to 4.2 oz) and forearms are about 60–100 mm (2–4 in). This creature also has a tail that is hard to detect beneath the inter femoral membrane.The species is known to hang off of evergreen trees during the day alone or spread out from one another and travel in packs of hundreds during the late hours of the night in the forest of Africa.
Animals of the same family as a Gambian epauletted fruit bat
We found other animals of the Pteropodidae family:
- Philippine dawn bat with a weight of 78 grams
- Madagascan rousette with a size of 12.9 cm (0′ 6″)
- Mariana fruit bat with a size of 21.7 cm (0′ 9″)
- Big-eared flying fox with a size of 21.1 cm (0′ 9″)
- Pteropus temmincki with a weight of 250 grams
- Long-tailed fruit bat with 1 babies per litter
- Halmahera naked-backed fruit bat with a size of 17.8 cm (0′ 8″)
- Solomon’s naked-backed fruit bat with a size of 17.4 cm (0′ 7″)
- Biak naked-backed fruit bat with a size of 16.4 cm (0′ 7″)
- Lesser tube-nosed fruit bat with a size of 7.7 cm (0′ 4″)
Animals with the same size as a Gambian epauletted fruit bat
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Gambian epauletted fruit bat:
- Red-cheeked flying squirrel with a size of 18.1 cm (0′ 8″)
- Greater fairy armadillo with a size of 15.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Red-bellied mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 14.2 cm (0′ 6″)
- Lesser hamster-rat with a size of 14.9 cm (0′ 6″)
- Desert pocket gopher with a size of 17.2 cm (0′ 7″)
- Harris’s antelope squirrel with a size of 16 cm (0′ 7″)
- Three-striped ground squirrel with a size of 17.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Yellow-cheeked chipmunk with a size of 15.1 cm (0′ 6″)
- Sundevall’s jird with a size of 15 cm (0′ 6″)
- Townsend’s pocket gopher with a size of 18.4 cm (0′ 8″)
Animals with the same weight as a Gambian epauletted fruit bat
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Epomophorus gambianus:
- Slender treeshrew bringing 112 grams to the scale
- Round-tailed ground squirrel bringing 148 grams to the scale
- Guam flying fox bringing 153 grams to the scale
- Lewis’s tuco-tuco bringing 117 grams to the scale
- Narrow-striped marsupial shrew bringing 124 grams to the scale
- Ihering’s three-striped opossum bringing 112 grams to the scale
- Greater fairy armadillo bringing 129 grams to the scale
- Gorongoza gerbil bringing 118 grams to the scale
- Alcorn’s pocket gopher bringing 150 grams to the scale
- Dusky spiny tree-rat bringing 108 grams to the scale