Mammals of the WorldLittle Long-fingered Bat
Miniopterus australis
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Family
- Miniopteridae
- Genus
- Miniopterus
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- Indonesia|Malaysia|Brunei|Papua New Guinea|Australia|Solomon Islands|Vanuatu|New Caledonia
- Realm
- Indomalaya|Australasia
Other names: Little Bent-winged Bat
About this species
The little bent-wing bat or little long-fingered bat (Miniopterus australis) belongs to vesper bat in the family Miniopteridae. The species received its first scientific description by Robert Tomes in his 1858 monograph of the genus. Tomes distinguished the new species with a comparison to Miniopterus blepotis, in details of morphology and fur, and with standardised measurements using the breadth of the forearm; M. bleopotis was assigned in the broadly dispersed Miniopterus schreibersi species complex. (Wikipedia, general species account).
Its recorded distribution includes Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vanuatu. The type locality is named as Lifu in the Loyalty Islands, a province of New Caledonia. Tomes assigned the specific epithet australis when he first regarded the population as endemic to Australia, but realised the series of specimens he assembled for his revision included those collected in Timor and presumed they also occurred at other islands of the regions. (Wikipedia, general species account).
Description: Wildlife of sulawesi guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)