Hammer-headed Fruit Bat
Hammer-headed Fruit BatHammer-headed Fruit BatHammer-headed Fruit BatHammer-headed Fruit Bat

Hammer-headed Fruit Bat

Hypsignathus monstrosus

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered
Insufficient data
overall probability at Taï National Park
2 Verified records at Taï National Park
🌅 Crepuscular When it's active at dawn and dusk

The hammer-headed bat (Hypsignathus monstrosus), also known as hammer-headed fruit bat, big-lipped bat, and hammerhead bat, is a megabat widely distributed in West and Central Africa. It is the only member of the genus Hypsignathus, which is part of the tribe Epomophorini along with four other genera. It is the largest bat in continental Africa, with wingspans approaching 1 m (3.3 ft), and males are almost twice as heavy as females. Males and females also greatly differ in appearance, making it the most sexually dimorphic bat species in the world. These differences include several adaptations that help males produce and amplify vocalizations: the males' larynges (vocal cords) are about three times as large as those of females, and they have large resonating chambers on their faces. Females appear more like a typical megabat, with foxlike faces. Wikipedia →

Closest Relatives at Taï National Park

Büttikofer's Epauletted Bat
LC

Büttikofer's Epauletted Bat

🌙 Nocturnal Mammal

Epomops buettikoferi

30–40% · Possible
Cyclops roundleaf bat
LC

Cyclops roundleaf bat

🌅 Crepuscular Mammal

Doryrhina cyclops

30–40% · Possible
Halcyon horseshoe bat
LC

Halcyon horseshoe bat

Mammal

Rhinolophus alcyone

Insufficient data
Benito roundleaf bat
LC

Benito roundleaf bat

Mammal

Hipposideros beatus

Insufficient data

📅 Monthly Probability

📊

Fewer than 5 records of Hammer-headed Fruit Bat at Taï National Park — not enough to chart months honestly.

🌅 When They're Spotted

Most active at dawn and dusk · across all parks (global)

🌅Crepuscular
☀️🌙🌙12am6am12pm6pm12am

Global Distribution

Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.

where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is)  ·  parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Probability
1 Taï National Park 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast
Insufficient data
2 Kibale National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
Insufficient data
3 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
Insufficient data
4 Virunga National Park 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo
Insufficient data
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