Cynopterus brachyotis
Silhouette: Baheerathan Murugavel · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The lesser short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus brachyotis) is a species of megabat within the family Pteropodidae. It is a small bat that lives in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It weighs between 21 and 32 grams (0.74 and 1.13 oz), and measures 70 to 127 millimetres (2.8 to 5.0 in). It occurs in many types of habitat, but most frequently in disturbed forest, including lower montane forest and tropical lowland rain forest, plus gardens, mangroves, and vegetation on beaches.
Lesser short-nosed fruit bats are generally brown to yellowish brown with a brighter collar. Adult males have dark orange collars whereas adult females have yellowish collars. An indistinct collar is observed in some immature bats. The edges of the ears and the wing bones are usually white. Individuals have two pairs of lower incisors, a fox-like face and large dark eyes. The head and body length is 7–8 cm (2.8–3.1 in), the forearm length is 6–7 cm (2.4–2.8 in), tail length is 0.8–1.0 cm (0.31–0.39 in), and ear length is 1.4–1.6 cm (0.55–0.63 in).
There are nine subspecies of lesser short-nosed fruit bat. Corbet and Hill listed 19 alternate names of C. brachyotis, which include: Pachysoma brachyotis... Wikipedia →
Recording
Singapore · 2026
© Joan Theng · Xeno · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johor Bahru | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 2 | Singapore | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 3 | Kuala Lumpur | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
No species of the same family or order lives in Singapore, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat sighting in Singapore on a given day, based on 185 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 8th most-seen of the 13 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat in Singapore on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 2 and 5 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 cities where we can rate Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat sightings, Singapore ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Johor Bahru (Malaysia, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat is recorded against all the mammals logged in Singapore (185 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
