Three Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats (Cynopterus brachyotis) roosting beneath a palm frond in Thailand. These bats usually roost in small groups of trees, houses, the twilight zone of caves, or in palm fronds, where they sometimes bite through the midrib to form a tent. Bats of this genus are common and widespread in Southeast Asia from Ceylon to Indochina, Indonesia and the Philippines, including many small islands. Their seed dispersal and pollination activities are critical to the propagation and survival of rain forests. Like many bats in this part of the world, they have not been well-studied, an not much is known about their ecology and behavior.

PHOTO BY MERLIN D. TUTTLE