Description
Visored bats range from 52 to 63 millimetres (2.0 to 2.5 in) in head-body length. They have greyish-brown fur becoming paler towards the front of the body, grey or brownish-white underparts, and white spots on each shoulder and just below the ears. They have a rounded head, with a short, hairless, snout, a wide mouth, and bulging golden-brown eyes. The ears are triangular, with a narrow tragus. Their most distinctive feature, however, is the presence of the "visor" for which they are named - a structure not found in any other bat species.
The visor consists of a horny outgrowth above and behind the horseshoe-shaped nose-leaf. In females it is a relatively small ridge-like structure, and located above the centre of each eye, from where it connects to a central ridge behind the nose-leaf. In adult males, it is much larger, reaching four times the size in females, and stretches all the way to the lateral corners of the eyes. Another unusual feature of male visored bats is the presence of a large fold of skin on the neck, which can be pulled up over the face as a mask while sleeping; the fold is much smaller and apparently non-functional in females.
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