NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Indian Leaf-nosed Bat
Hipposideros lankadiva Kelaart, 1850
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Indian roundleaf bat (Hipposideros lankadiva), also known as the large Ceylon leaf-nosed bat or Kelaart's leaf-nosed bat, is a species of bat in the family Hipposideridae. It is endemic to the Indian subcontinent, with marginal populations also detected in Southeast Asia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and caves. The bat has three subspecies that occur in India, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. The Indian subspecies, H. l. indus, is smaller than the ones found in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, although there are no other characteristics that differentiate the subspecies. H. lankadiva is a large leaf-nosed bat and is yellowish-brown in color. A key trait of the bats is the reduced fourth supplementary leaflet on the noseleaf, along with a lack of a fleshy elevation behind the posterior nose-leaf and the absence of white patches on the shoulders, which helps differentiate from similar species such as H. armiger and H. diadema.
Wikipedia contributors, Indian roundleaf bat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:12:17.585516+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hipposideros lankadiva Kelaart, 1850
- Name authority
- Kelaart, 1850
- Common name
- Indian Leaf-nosed Bat
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Family
- Hipposideridae
- Genus
- Hipposideros
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderChiroptera Blumenbach, 1779
- suborderYinpterochiroptera Springer, Teeling, Madsen, Stanhope & Jong, 2001
- superfamilyRhinolophoidea Gray, 1825
- familyHipposideridae Lydekker, 1891
- genusHipposideros Gray, 1831
- speciesHipposideros lankadiva Kelaart, 1850
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Hipposideros. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Aba Leaf-nosed BatHipposideros abae J. A. Allen, 1917 | HipposideridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ha Long Leaf-nosed BatHipposideros alongensis Bourret, 1942 | HipposideridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dusky Leaf-nosed BatHipposideros ater Templeton, 1848 | HipposideridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Benito Leaf-nosed BatHipposideros beatus K. Andersen, 1906 | HipposideridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bicolored Leaf-nosed BatHipposideros bicolor (Temminck, 1834) | HipposideridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Boeadi's Leaf-nosed BatHipposideros boeadii Bates, Rossiter, Suyanto & Kingston, 2007 | HipposideridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sundevall's Leaf-nosed BatHipposideros caffer (Sundevall, 1846) | HipposideridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fawn-colored Leaf-nosed BatHipposideros cervinus (Gould, 1854) | HipposideridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Large Mindanao Leaf-nosed BatHipposideros coronatus (Peters, 1871) | HipposideridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Diadem Leaf-nosed BatHipposideros diadema (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1813) | HipposideridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fierce Leaf-nosed BatHipposideros dinops K. Andersen, 1905 | HipposideridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bornean Leaf-nosed BatHipposideros doriae (Peters, 1871) | HipposideridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Hipposideros schistaceus K. Andersen, 1918 K. Andersen, 1918 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=631510 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3M37G. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.