The Australasian bent-wing bat (''Miniopterus orianae'') is a species of

vesper bat Vespertilionidae is a family of microbats, of the order Chiroptera, flying, insect-eating mammals variously described as the common, vesper, or simple nosed bats. The vespertilionid family is the most diverse and widely distributed of bat familie ...

in the family

Miniopteridae ''Miniopterus'', known as the bent-winged or long winged bats, is the sole genus of the family Miniopteridae. They are small flying insectivorous mammals, micro-bats of the order Chiroptera, with wings over twice the length of the body. The genus ...

. It is found in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

Taxonomy

The Australasian bent-wing bat was described as a new species in 1922 by British zoologist

Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for the first time. He was appoin ...

. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

had been collected on 9 July 1922 by Oriana F. Wilson, widow of Antarctic explorer

Edward Adrian Wilson Edward Adrian Wilson (23 July 1872 – 29 March 1912) was an English polar explorer, ornithologist, natural historian, physician and artist. Early life Born in Cheltenham on 23 July 1872, Wilson was the second son and fifth child of ...

. Thomas named the species ''Miniopterus orianae''. This species was once considered a subspecies of

common bent-wing bat The common bent-wing bat (''Miniopterus schreibersii''), also known as the Schreibers's long-fingered bat or Schreibers's bat, is a species of insectivorous bat. They appear to have dispersed from a subtropical origin and distributed throughout ...

. It is now accepted that the Australasian bent-winged bat and the Eastern bent-winged bat are two distinct species. The Australasian bent-wing bat has three subspecies: ''M. orianae bassanii'' (the

southern bent-wing bat The southern bent-wing bat (''Miniopterus orianae bassanii'') is one of two subspecies of the Australasian bent-wing bat. Its population size has declined rapidly since the 1950s, and it is classified as critically endangered by the Australian g ...

), ''M. o. orianae'' (the northern bent-wing bat), and ''M. o. oceanensis'' (the eastern bent-wing bat).

Ecology

It is known to harbor the blood parasite '' Polychromophilus melanipherus'', though one study found that bats with the blood parasite did not appear to suffer deleterious effects such as

anemia Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, th ...

or low body weight.

Range and habitat

''M. orianae bassanii'' only occurs in southwestern

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and southeastern

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. ''M. orianae oceanensis'' occurs widely along the east coast of Australia. ''M. orianae orianae'' was first documented in Casurina Bay, which is from

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the smalle ...

Conservation

One of the subspecies (''M. orianae bassanii'') has been evaluated as critically endangered in Australia under the

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

since 2007. ''M. orianae oceanensis'' is listed as vulnerable in Victoria, as it is only known from one maternity cave.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q12071678 Bats of Australia Mammals of Indonesia Miniopteridae Mammals described in 1922 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas