| Common sheath-tailed bat | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Emballonuridae |
| Genus: | Taphozous |
| Species: | T. georgianus |
| Binomial name | |
| Taphozous georgianus | |
 | |
| Common sheath-tailed bat range | |
The common sheathtail bat (Taphozous georgianus), is a bat in the family Emballonuridae, occurring in northern Australia.
A description of the species was first published in 1915 by Oldfield Thomas, his notes on two bat genera resulting in a new subspecies Taphozous australis georgianus. [3] [4] The taxon was included in a revision by Ellis Le Geyt Troughton (1925) [5] that proposed recognition as a species and this status was acknowledged in 1967. [3] Other recognised generic combinations include Saccolaimus georgianus. [3] The holotype, the skull and skin of a female, is held at the British Museum of Natural History and the locality of the collection noted as King George Sound; the species has not been recorded at this location. [6]
Common names also include common sheath-tailed bat [7] or sharp-nosed tomb bat.[ citation needed ]
The overall colour of the fur is brown or greyish-brown, dark at the back and slightly paler at the front, the basal colour of the hair is creamy. [8] [9] Their snout narrows toward the tip. [9] The colour of the lips and bald head is sepia. [6] Fine hairs at the underside of the arms are ginger-grey. The forearm range in measurement from 66 to 74 millimetres, the weight range is 19 to 41 grams. [8] They are no larger than 9 centimetres in length. [9] The outer half is infolded at the edge of the tragus. [6] A pouch is found at the radial-metacarpal, a gular sac is absent, [6] The interfemoral membrane covers most of the tail, the tip is bare and prominent. [8]
The roosting position distinguishes it from similar bats, they lay their body close to the surface with the forearms stretched out and shoulders raising the head up. [8] [9] The peculiar posture of the bat is described as crab-like. [6]
It is similar to other sheathtails, smaller than Taphozous troughtoni , which also occurs in northern Queensland, and distinguished from Taphozous hilli of central Australia by the lack of neck pouch (gular sac) in the male and greater interval between the cuspids. [8]
The major activity is hunting and pursuit, its diet is primarily Coleoptera (beetles) although other types of insect are also consumed. [10] As with most bats, Taphozous georgianus hunts at night. Their flight follows straight paths that systematically survey a hunting ground by criss-crossing in a grid pattern. The environs that provide feeding opportunities are over water and bushland, where insects are caught and consumed in flight. [10] They inhabit arid and tropical regions of the northern Australian continent, close to grassland or woodland. [9] A wide variety of habitat provide them with feeding opportunities. In comparison to other bats they patrol at a medium height and are often observed over water bodies such as pools and creeks. [6]
While retiring during the day, the bat lays appressed to the surface of a wall or ceiling of its subterranean site. [10] The colony size is usually small, and the distance between the position of the hanging bats is greater than half a metre. [10] They may also be solitary in a roost, or several individuals, although seventeen in one cave were recorded and collected. At least fifty individuals were seen at each of several mining sites in the Pilbara. The species occupies crevices at vertical faces or at the roof in horizontal mine and caves, and prefers the darkest parts of the site. [6] They may pause from foraging on a rock face, resting close to a crevice that will provide refuge if disturbed. [10]
Young are born from October to February, the individual producing a single birth. Only the right ovary appears viable, the fetus is only recorded in the right uterine horn. Spermatogenesis occurs throughout the year, although the testicular position — more abdominal or distended to the scrotum — is seasonally variable. [6] An early study (Kitchener, 1973) concluded that the species seems monoestrous, although the possibility of a second birth remains for a species with a long breeding period. A later revision noted evidence in the specimens may be lacking if the persistence of corpora luteum after birth is short and the specimens examined were able to be assigned to the revising author's later description as another species, Taphozous hilli . [6]
The bat is a very common species in its range, in the tropic and subtropic regions of the north and west. [6] They most frequently occupy caves, abandoned mining operations and fissures in rock faces. [10] They also occupy buildings soon after they become vacant; this may have increased opportunities and extended the distribution range. An individual or group's range may vary during the year; they appear to seasonally vacate some residences and relocate to other local sites. [6]
Despite the habit of high flying when commuting, they need to seek water and may encounter ground-level hazards. The species is noted as vulnerable to barbed wire that snags then entangles the animal as it attempts to free itself. Taphozous georgianus and many other species can be hooked through the easily torn wing membranes; many individuals meet with an often slow demise each year from this widely used and discarded fencing material. [8] Other threats include the destruction of roosting areas by mining, disturbance by human intrusion, and introduced land management practices that result in the dilapidation of the local ecology. [10] The state conservation status in Queensland and the Northern Territory is 'least concern'. [9]
Skin punctures by any bat of this region, including this one, carry a risk of exposure to Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) which can result in a rare and fatal rabies-like disease in humans. They are otherwise classified as harmless. [9]
Emballonuridae is a family of microbats, many of which are referred to as sac-winged or sheath-tailed bats. They are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. The earliest fossil records are from the Eocene.
The ghost bat is a flying mammal found in northern Australia. The species is the only Australian bat that preys on large vertebrates – birds, reptiles and other mammals – which they detect using acute sight and hearing, combined with echolocation, while waiting in ambush at a perch. The wing membrane and bare skin is pale in colour, their fur is light or dark grey over the back and paler at the front. The species has a prominent and simple nose-leaf, their large ears are elongated and joined at lower half, and the eyes are also large and dark in colour. The first description of the species was published in 1880, its recorded range has significantly contracted since that time.
Micronomus norfolkensis is a species of molossid bat, a family of flying mammals. The bat is endemic to Australia, where it occurs from southeastern Queensland to eastern New South Wales. They are the sole species of genus Micronomus and referred to by variations on east-coast free-tailed bat.
The northern cave bat is a vespertilionid bat that occurs in most of Australia.
Finlayson's cave bat is a species of vespertilionid bat found only in Australia.
The yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat, also known as the yellow-bellied sheathtail or yellow-bellied pouched bat, is a microbat species of the family Emballonuridae found extensively in Australia and less commonly in parts of Papua New Guinea.
Saccolaimus is a genus of the family Emballonuridae, small insectivorous bats with distinctive sheathtails and pouches at the wrist.
The Papuan sheath-tailed bat is a species of bat in the family Emballonuridae which occurs at the Cape York Peninsula and New Guinea. The poorly known species hunts in open forests for night flying insects.
The naked-rumped pouched bat, also known as the pouched tomb bat, is a species of sac-winged bat in the family Emballonuridae.
Taphozous is a genus of the family Emballonuridae. The wide distribution of the genus includes several regions of Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Africa. Taphozous comes from the Greek τάφος, meaning "a tomb". The common names for species include variants on sac-winged, sheathtail, or tomb bats.
Hildegarde's tomb bat is a species of sac-winged bat in the family Emballonuridae. It is found near the coast in Kenya and Tanzania where it feeds in tropical dry forests and roosts in caves. It is a diurnal species and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as "endangered". The specific name hildegardeae was given in honour of anthropologist Hildegarde Beatrice Hinde.
Hill's sheath-tailed bat is a bat of the family Emballonuridae. They are found in the deserts of central Australia.
The Arnhem sheath-tailed bat, species is an emballonurid bat found at the Top End of Australia. The species is also referred to as the white-striped sheathtail for the distinguishing marks at the flank, a feature observable beneath the wing when the animal is in flight. Records of the species are rare.
The Mauritian tomb bat is a species of sac-winged bat in the family Emballonuridae that is found in central and southern Africa and Madagascar. It was discovered in 1818 by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, and is characterized by an all-white ventral surface, grizzled dorsal coloration, and conical face. It has exceptionally good eyesight, a trait which is common in old world bats and enables it to find roosting locations. It has adapted itself to a wide range of habitats including subarid scrub to semi-tropical savanna and can be found throughout much of Africa south of the Sahara, including many of the surrounding islands. They often seek out refuge in cool dry areas. Mauritian tomb bats help control pest populations, including insects that carry human diseases. These bats tend to be nocturnal hunters and their normal prey consists of moths, butterflies, and termites. Not prone to large-scale roosting, T. mauritianus is most often spotted on the sides of buildings or on the trunks of trees in groups of around five individuals. They breed on average once or twice a year and rear usually one pup, though twins are occasionally reported. They usually deposit their hungry offspring in areas where they can feed ferociously, most often in berry bushes. This species is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List due their wide distribution and stable population.
The naked-rumped tomb bat is a species of sac-winged bat in the family Emballonuridae. Found in northern Africa, the Middle East, and southeastern Asia, its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and forests, caves, and arid areas.
Troughton's sheath-tailed bat is a species of sheathtail bat in the family Emballonuridae, found only in Australia.
The fawn leaf-nosed bat is a species of bat in the family Hipposideridae found in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vanuatu.
The orange leaf-nosed bat is a bat in the family Hipposideridae. It is the only living species in the genus Rhinonicteris which is endemic to Australia, occurring in the far north and north-west of the continent. They roost in caves, eat moths, and are sensitive to human intrusion.
The white-striped free-tailed bat is a species of bat in the family Molossidae. Its echolocation calls are audible to humans, which is a characteristic found in only a few microbat species. The species was formerly classified as Tadarida australis.
