Golden-tipped bat

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Golden-tipped bat
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Vespertilionidae
Genus: Phoniscus
Species:
P. papuensis
Binomial name
Phoniscus papuensis
(Dobson, 1878)
Distribution of Phoniscus papuensis.png
Synonyms

Kerivoula papuensis Dobson, 1878

The golden-tipped bat (Phoniscus papuensis) is a species of Microchiropteran in the family Vespertilionidae. [2] It is found in Papua New Guinea and in Australia, especially scattered along the eastern part of Australia. [3] The species is considered uncommon, [4] and is listed as endangered in Australia. [5]

Contents

Description

The golden-tipped bat has brown color and broken color patterns on its pelage; [3] the body is covered with woolly fur. [5] Broken color patterns support crypsis in the golden-tipped bat; [5] thick pelage and wooly fur provide thermal insulation. [5] The average weight of adults is 6.7g. [5]

The wings of the golden-tipped bat show a low aspect ratio, with low wing loading. (That is, the wing is broad.) These wing features of support slow flight. [6] [7] Additionally, the large tail membrane aids the wing membrane in enabling tight turns in flight. [6] [7] Rounded wing tips also contribute to high maneuverability in flight. [6] [7]

The golden-tipped bat also uses echolocation for foraging, with frequencies of approximately 155 kHz to 60 kHz. [6]

Habitat and ecology

The golden-tipped bat has been mainly recorded in rainforest or wet sclerophyll forest. [3] It has also been recorded in dry sclerophyll forest. They live at elevations up to 1,000m. [3]

Roosting

They make diurnal roosts ranging from 0.5 to 9.0m above the ground, [5] roosting on the branches of trees or in tree hollows. [5] Female bats use the canopy of a tree for a maternity site; [5] Roosts, and their broken patterns of pelage, enable this species to hide from their predators. [5]

Diet and foraging strategies

Diet

Araneida such as orb-weaver and big-jawed spiders are the main food of golden-tipped bats; as shown by the high proportion of Araneida body fragments among the particles lodged among the bats' teeth and fur. [6] Even though Araneida is a major food source for the golden-tipped bat, these bats also consume insects which belong to the insect orders Coleoptera (beetles) and Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). [6]

Foraging strategies

The golden-tipped bat uses multiple foraging strategies to hunt. One is ground gleaning. [6] They also hover-glean, flying slowly and taking prey from elevated places such as high tree trunks. [6] The golden tipped bat use broad bandwidth echolocation to find precise localization of a target. Additionally, they use high frequency echolocation to find stationary prey such as spiders on their webs. [6]

References

  1. ↑ Loyd, A.M.; Pennay, M. (2021). "Phoniscus papuensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2021: e.T10982A22021190. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T10982A22021190.en .
  2. ↑ Parnaby, H; Mills, D (December 1994). "A Record of the Gold-tipped Bat from the Escarpment Forests". Australian Zoologist. 29: 3–4. doi:10.7882/AZ.1994.013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Action Plan for Australian Bats". Environment Australia. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  4. ↑ SCHULZ, M (1995). "Utilisation of suspended bird nests by the Golden-tipped Bat (kerivoula papuensis) in Australia". Mammalia. 59 (2): 280–283.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Schulz, M (1999). "Roosts used by the golden-tipped bat Kerivoula papuensis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)". Journal of Zoology. 250 (4): 467–478. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2000.tb00790.x.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 SCHULZ, MARTIN (2000). "Diet and Foraging Behavior of the Golden-Tipped Bat,Kerivoula Papuensis: A Spider Specialist?". Journal of Mammalogy. 81 (20 March 2000): 948–957. doi: 10.1644/1545-1542(2000)081<0948:dafbot>2.0.co;2 .
  7. 1 2 3 Rhodes, Martin (1995). "Wing Morphology and Flight Behaviour of the Golden-tipped Bat, Phoniscus papuensis(Dobson) (Chiroptera:Vespertilionidae)". Australian Journal of Zoology. 43 (6): 657–63. doi:10.1071/zo9950657.
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