Yellow Bellied House Bat (Scotophilus dinganii)

This bats is brown/dark brown on top and bright yellow or orange yellow below.

It has a mass of 20-30g

The wings are dark brown and the face is plain. ⁣

They have moderately sized ears with a long narrow tragus.

Relative to their head, they have large teeth and this is to chomp down on beetles and other hard shelled prey items

But it also means we researchers must wear extra thick gloves too 🙂

The White-Bellied Free Tailed Bat (Mops niveiventer) ⁣

A medium-sized bat with a mass of about 20g.

It is greyish-brown above with a contrasting blackish crown, and their wings are light brown.

The tail is completely unenclosed within the tail membrane, hence the name ‘free-tailed’.

The ears are joined by a flap of skin, and their upper lip is wrinkled, giving a bull-dog appearance.

This species often roosts in loft voids, which is why it comes into conflict with humans so often.

This was also why, me and Amelia were studying them to discover more about their roosting and foraging ecology.

Find out more here

The little free-tailed bat (Chaerephon pumilis)

The smallest member of the Molossidae (free-tailed bats) family found in Malawi

Its is a small greyish-brown bat with slightly lighter underparts.

They have a distinctive narrow white or cream band present along their inner flanks, where the wings join the body.

Their interaural and muzzle areas contain sebaceous glands that secrete odours used in sexual discrimination.
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