If an ordinary bat frightens you, this might just scare the living daylight out of you! Horseshoe bats have horseshoe-shaped protuberances called noseleafs on their noses which adds to their ugly appearance. These bats like all others, have poor eyesight and rely mostly on echolocation to navigate. They do not have the sturdiest of limbs but they have very good wings and can fly large distance at a time in a single stretch.
Rhinolophids inhabit temperate and tropical regions of southern Europe, Africa, and Asia south to northern and eastern Australia. All species are insectivorous, capturing insects in flight. Their roost habits are diverse; some species are found in large colonies in caves, some prefer hollow trees, and others sleep in the open, among the branches of trees. Members of northern populations may hibernate during the winter, while a few are known to aestivate; at least one species is migratory. Like many Vespertilionidae bats, females of some rhinolophid species mate during the fall and store the sperm over the winter, conceiving and gestating young beginning in the spring.
In September 2005, four Rhinolophus species ... were identified as natural reservoirs of SARS coronavirus-like viruses, the causative agent of SARS outbreaks in 2002–2004.
