The New Guinea long-eared bat (''Nyctophilus microtis'') is a small species of bat. It is found only in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Taxonomy

The description of the species was published by

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 ...

in 1888, recognising the affinity with ''

Nyctophilus timoriensis The south-eastern long-eared bat or Corben's long-eared bat (''Nyctophilus corbeni''), is a species of bat found in Australia. It occurs in the woodlands of the Murray Darling BasinTurbill, C. and Ellis, M. (2006). Distribution and abundance of ...

'', the name ascribed to Australian

vespertilionid 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 ...

'long-eared bat' taxa. Thomas's description of a new species in the genus ''Nyctophilus'' was the first to indicate the diversity of the group, previously described as monotypic. The specimen is noted as having been collected at Sogere, South-east New Guinea by

Henry Ogg Forbes Henry Ogg Forbes LLD (30 January 1851 – 27 October 1932) was a Scottish explorer, ornithologist, and botanist. He also described a new species of spider, '' Thomisus decipiens''. Biography Forbes was the son of Rev Alexander Forbes M.A. (182 ...

, and deposited at the

British Museum of Natural History The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

, London.

References

Nyctophilus Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Bats of Oceania Endemic fauna of Papua New Guinea Mammals of Papua New Guinea Mammals described in 1888 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Bats of New Guinea {{Vespertilionidae-stub