It is hard to guess what a Lesser false vampire bat weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Lesser false vampire bat (Megaderma spasma) on average weights 24 grams (0.05 lbs).
The Lesser false vampire bat is from the family Megadermatidae (genus: Megaderma). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 7.3 cm (0′ 3″). Usually, Lesser false vampire bats have 1 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The lesser false vampire bat (Megaderma spasma) is a bat found in South Asia and Southeast Asia from Sri Lanka and India in the west to Indonesia and the Philippines in the east. They live in caves and tree hollows. They are insectivorous.The lesser false vampire bat has a wingspan of up to 30 centimetres (12 in) and have a head-and-body length of around 10 centimetres (3.9 in). Their forearms are normally around 7 centimetres (2.8 in).The lesser false vampire bat has yellowish veins through the wing, and when the wings are spread with light behind, they are given a prominent yellow/orange tinge. Their body colour ranges from grey-brown to blue-brown.Lesser false vampire bats live in rock crevices, caves, foliage and hollow trees, depending on availability, as well as hanging and sleeping on trees in general.Megaderma spasma is from the order Chiroptera and family Megadermatidae which comprises four genera and five species. M. spasma also known as lesser false vampire. Its type locality was in Indonesia, Molucca Islands and Ternate. There are two specimens of M. spasma collected in Sarawak Museum Unimas, one from Niah and another one from batu 16, Ulu Gombak. M. spasma was distributed in India to Indochina and Malay Peninsula, Sri Lanka, Andaman Islands, Sumatra, Borneo, Moluccas, Philippines, Sulawesi and other Indonesian islands. In Borneo, it can found in Sepilok, Darvel Bay area in Sabah, Niah and Kuching in Sarawak, upper S. Kapuas in West and upper S. Tengah in South Kalimantan. It is most closely related to the greater false vampire bat, which is the only other species in the genus Megaderma.M. spasma has fur pale grey to grey-brown in colour. Its noseleaf has long dorsal lobe with stiffened central ridge and broad convex flaps on the sides. Its ears are very large, joined at the base and it has no visible tail. Its echolocation pulses are short, low in density and broadband and its large ears are sensitive to echoes returning from their pulses and also sensitive to the sounds that prey generates. M. spasma usually roosts in groups in caves, pits, building, and hollow trees. M. spasma favours grasshoppers and moths but sometimes they eat small vertebrates including other bats. They have well developed, forward-pointing eyes and can locate prey visually.M. spasma usually roosts in a group of 3–30 individuals. Their ecological importance may be both positive and negative to humans. They eat some insects which harm human crops, but they may carry and transmit certain diseases.The bat is known as කන් දිගු බොරු ලේ වවුලා (kan-digu boru le wawula – meaning “long eared false vampire bat”) in Sinhala.
Animals of the same family as a Lesser false vampire bat
We found other animals of the Megadermatidae family:
- Greater false vampire bat with a weight of 39 grams
- Heart-nosed bat with a weight of 26 grams
- Yellow-winged bat with a weight of 23 grams
- Ghost bat with a weight of 124 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Lesser false vampire bat
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Megaderma spasma:
- Drylands vesper mouse bringing 20 grams to the scale
- Greater round-eared bat bringing 27 grams to the scale
- Tailless fruit bat bringing 26 grams to the scale
- Woodland dormouse bringing 20 grams to the scale
- Zenker’s fruit bat bringing 21 grams to the scale
- Grant’s golden mole bringing 22 grams to the scale
- Notiomys bringing 21 grams to the scale
- Lesser mouse-eared bat bringing 21 grams to the scale
- Lined pocket mouse bringing 23 grams to the scale
- Western heather vole bringing 25 grams to the scale
Animals with the same litter size as a Lesser false vampire bat
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Lesser false vampire bat: