biology

Mehely's horseshoe bat

Mehely's horseshoe bat is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mehely's horseshoe bat rather than just read about it. In short: Mehely's horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus mehelyi) is a species of insectivorous bat in the family Rhinolophidae found in Southern Europe and parts of the Middle East. It is distributed in a narrow band around the Mediterranean Sea from North-Western Africa across Portugal, Spain, the Balearics, southern France, Sardinia, Sicily and the Balkan Peninsula to Asia Minor.

Key takeaways

Mehely's horseshoe bat belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mehely's horseshoe bat to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mehely's horseshoe bat from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mehely's horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus mehelyi) is a species of insectivorous bat in the family Rhinolophidae found in Southern Europe and parts of the Middle East. It is distributed in a narrow band around the Mediterranean Sea from North-Western Africa across Portugal, Spain, the Balearics, southern France, Sardinia, Sicily and the Balkan Peninsula to Asia Minor.

Description The bat is medium-sized for a member of the genus Rhinolophus, with pale lips and grey-brown ears and flight membranes. The fur is relatively thick, with the base of hairs grey-white. Ventral fur is almost white, while dorsal fur is grey-brown; the line between the dorsal and ventral sides is relatively sharp.

Habitat The bat is cave-dwelling, preferring areas of limestone with nearby water. It has been known to roost in caves with other horseshoe bats such as Rhinolophus hipposideros, as well as Myotis myotis and Miniopterus schreibersi. It prefers to roost in warmer cave cavities, such as those found in the Cova de Sa Guitarreta (Mallorca), while hanging free on the cave roof.

Hunting The bat emerges at dusk, hunting low over the ground on warm hillsides and also among bushes and trees, preying on moths and other insects.

Echolocation The constant frequency sound is between 105 and 112 kHz, with a short drop in frequency at the end of the signal, which normally lasts between 20 and 30 milliseconds. There is some frequency overlap with the lesser horseshoe bat and the Mediterranean horseshoe bat.

Mating and selection A behavioral study conducted by Puechmaille et al. (2014) revealed that the peak frequencies of echolocation calls emitted by male and female Rhinolophus mehelyi accurately reflect their body size and condition. In the experiment, larger males proved to have higher call frequencies that attracted females twice as often as males with lower call frequencies. In contrast, males appeared to choose females at random. This distinction suggests that females choose males based on their call frequency for the indirect benefits of having healthier and fitter offspring. The mating system is therefore comparable to a lek, making female mate choice a selection factor in the evolution of call frequency in males that may counter other selection pressures imposed by their ecological niche.

References

Schober, Wilfried; Eckard Grimmberger (1989). Dr. Robert E. Stebbings (ed.). A Guide to Bats of Britain and Europe (1st ed.). UK: Hamlyn Publishing Group. ISBN 0-600-56424-X. Agnelli, P., Martinoli, A., Patriarca, E., Russo, D., Scaravelli, D. & Genovesi, P. (2004), Linee guida per il monitoraggio dei Chirotteri: indicazioni metodologiche per lo studio e la conservazione dei pipistrelli in Italia. Quaderni di Conservazione della NaturaMinistero dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio - Istituto Nazionale per la Fauna Selvatica "A. Ghigi", Roma GIRC (2004), The Italian bat roost project: a preliminary inventory of sites and conservation perspectives Hystrix, It. J. Mammal. pp. 55–68 Lanza, B. (2012), Fauna d'Italia, Chiroptera Calderini, Bologna Mucedda, M. (1994), Note su Rhinolophus mehelyi (Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) della Sardegna. Boll. Gruppo Spel. Sassarese n.15: pp. 43–46 Mucedda, M., Pidinchedda, E., Bertelli, M.L (2009), Status del Rinolofo di Mehely (Rhinolophus mehelyi) (Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) in Italia. Atti del 2° Convegno Italiano sui Chirotteri, Serra San Quirico (AN) pp. 89–98 Ruffo, S. & Stock, F. (2005), Checklist e distribuzione della fauna italiana Memorie dei Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona - 2. Serie Sezione Scienze della Vita Russo D, Almenar D, Aihartza J, Goiti U, Salsamendi E, Garin I. (2005), Habitat selection in sympatric Rhinolophus mehelyi and R. euryale (Mammalia : Chiroptera) Journal of Zoology pp. 327–332

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mehely's horseshoe bat

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mehely's horseshoe bat claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mehely's horseshoe bat before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mehely's horseshoe bat ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mehely's horseshoe bat

In research: Mehely's horseshoe bat appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mehely's horseshoe bat in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mehely's horseshoe bat is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bats of Africa, Bats of Asia, Bats of Europe, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mehely's horseshoe bat outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Mehely's horseshoe bat” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Mehely's horseshoe bat in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mehely's horseshoe bat means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mehely's horseshoe bat out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mehely's horseshoe bat in simple terms?

Why does Mehely's horseshoe bat matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mehely's horseshoe bat?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mehely's horseshoe bat.