The New Caledonian wattled bat (''Chalinolobus neocaledonicus'') 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 ...
, family Vespertilionidae. It is found only in
New Caledonia
)
, anthem = ""
, image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of New Caledonia
, map_caption = Location of New Caledonia
, mapsize = 290px
, subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
.
Taxonomy
The New Caledonia wattled bat was first described by Swiss naturalist
Pierre Revilliod
Pierre Revilliod (1883–1954) was a Swiss naturalist.
From 1927–1953 Revilliod was a curator and researcher at the Natural History Museum of Geneva. He is best known for
his work on fossil bats
Bats are mammals of the order Chiro ...
in 1914. It was formerly considered a subspecies of
Gould's wattled bat
Gould's wattled bat (''Chalinolobus gouldii'') is a species of Australian wattled bat named after the English naturalist John Gould.Chruszcz, Bryan & Barclay, M. R. (2002)''Mammalian Species'' Chalinolobus gouldii The American Society of Mammal ...
(''Chalinolobus gouldii''), but evidence for synonymy is weak.
Its
species name
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
"''neocaledonicus''" comes from Ancient Greek ''
néos'' meaning "new" and the
New Latin
New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...
rendering of "Caledonia," ''caledonicus''; the species name refers to New Caledonia where this species is found.
Description
It is a small species of bat, with a head and body length of only .
Its forearm is long, and its tail is long.
Its ears are relatively long, at
Its
dental formula
Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiolo ...
is , for a total of 32 teeth.
Range and habitat
It is one of nine species of bat found in
New Caledonia
)
, anthem = ""
, image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of New Caledonia
, map_caption = Location of New Caledonia
, mapsize = 290px
, subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
.
It is among the three species of bat
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the territory.
Conservation
It is considered
endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
by the
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
.
It meets the criteria for this assessment because its area of occupancy is less than , there are fewer than six known localities of occurrence, and its habitat is declining in quality and extent.
Sources
{{Taxonbar, from=Q305068
Chalinolobus
Bats of Oceania
Mammals of New Caledonia
Endemic fauna of New Caledonia
Mammals described in 1914
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot