Bats of Bangladesh—A Systematic Review of the Diversity and Distribution with Recommendations for Future Research

Abstract

Bangladesh is at the ecological transition between the Indo-Himalayan and Indo-Chinese subregions. The country also has one of the highest human population densities in the world and only 6% remaining natural habitat, putting much of its biodiversity at risk. With more than 1455 species worldwide, bats are an important, but threatened, component of global biodiversity and provide critical ecosystem services. Yet, there is no comprehensive work on species occurrence, diversity, or richness of bats of Bangladesh. Here, we collated data on the bats of Bangladesh and states in neighboring countries from the available literature, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and museum databases to assess the probability of occurrence of bat species in Bangladesh and created distribution maps for each species. We confirmed 31 species from 8 families, of which 22 were associated with voucher specimens and 9 recorded based on photographs, or human observation. A further 81 species were categorized as Highly Probable (38 species), Probable (33), and Possible (10) in Bangladesh based on the distribution in neighboring states and habitat preferences. The shortfall in confirmed versus potential species highlights the need for rigorous surveys to fully document and characterize the bat diversity of Bangladesh.