Bumblee bat or hog-nosed bat pictures and facts

The Bumblebee Bat, or Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat, (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) is the worlds smallest mammal. This is when you define smallest as 'the smallest mammal by length' as opposed to 'the smallest mammal by weight'. Its length ranges from 2.9 to 3.3 centimeters and it weighs between 1.7 and 2 grams. It lives in Thailand in small holes or in crevices formed by stalactites in caves and is most active at dusk, where it flies above the bamboo and teak trees to feed on insects, either in flight or on the trees. Bumblebee bats were first discovered in 1973 by Kitti Thonglongya. Their major threat is deforestation by the teak logging industry.

Picture by Tim Menzies, licensed under GPL