The New Caledonian long-eared bat (''Nyctophilus nebulosus'') is a

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 ...

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 ...

. They are only recorded at Mount Koghis, near

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, a ...

, and the population is decreasing.

Taxonomy

The formal description of the species was published in 2002 by H. E. Parnaby, although there is an earlier reference by

Tim Flannery Timothy Fridtjof Flannery (born 28 January 1956) is an Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist, Conservation biology, conservationist, Exploration, explorer, author, Science communication, science communicator, activist and p ...

to the population by a common name. The author compared three specimens to the two species they most closely resemble, ''

Nyctophilus gouldi Gould's long-eared bat (''Nyctophilus gouldi'') is a microbat found in southern regions of Australia. It occurs in eastern Australia, from Queensland to Victoria, and in a smaller isolated range in the south-west of Western Australia. Taxonomy ...

'' and '' N. bifax'' and presented a diagnosis based on their morphology. 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 ...

was collected 150 metres north of the Station d'Altitude car park at Mt. Koghis at 450

metres asl Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The com ...

. The collection was made by Flannery at 5.45 pm, 10 May 1991, when the specimen, a male adult, flew into a

mist net Mist nets are used by hunters and poachers, but also by ornithologists and chiropterologists to capture wild birds and bats for banding or other research projects. Mist nets are typically made of nylon or polyester mesh suspended between two po ...

set across a forest track. A second specimen, a female, was added to the collection the same evening, and the third obtained at the site several days later. The specimens examined by Parnaby were collected toward or at dusk. The epithet, ''nebulosus'', refers to both the difficulty in its specific diagnosis and to its known range. The intention is to allude to the "misty heights of Mt Koghis" and to the nebulous features that obscured the morphological comparison to those characteristics that are well defined in other ''Nyctophilus'' species. The common name is New Caledonian long-eared bat.

Description

A species of

Vespertilionidae 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 ...

, allied to the long-eared genus ''

Nyctophilus ''Nyctophilus'' is a genus of the vespertilionids or vesper bats. They are often termed Australian big-eared bats or long-eared bats, as the length of their ears often greatly exceeds that of the head. This genus occurs in the New Guinean-Austr ...

'', the bat has only observed at the south-western side of Mt. Koghis, in Nouméa. The fur of the species is dark brown, a reddish colour in the male and chocolate brown in the female. The ventral side is slightly lighter than the back. Skin colour is grey-brown and dark at the snout, ears and at the membranes of the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

. The species has some resemblance to ''

'', but lacks the distinctly lighter contrast of the fur on the ventral side; ''Nyctophilus nebulosus'' is also darker in colour at the back. The eastern species ''N. gouldi'' is around the same size except for the evidently larger ears. Several characteristics place this species as an intermediate in a range of measurements for ''

Nyctophilus bifax The eastern long-eared bat, species ''Nyctophilus bifax'', is a small flying mammal, a vespertilionid bat. It is found in eastern Australia and Papua New Guinea. Taxonomy The first description of the species was published in 1915 by Oldfield T ...

'' and ''N. gouldi'', although experimental comparison of measurement data provides support for separation as species.

Ecology

The specimens obtained at Mt. Koghis were active in a cleared area of tall

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

at dusk. The mountain is surrounded by

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

and

Maquis shrubland 220px, Low maquis in Corsica 220px, High ''macchia'' in Sardinia ( , , ) or ( , ; often in Italian; hr, makija; ; ) is a shrubland biome in the Mediterranean region, typically consisting of densely growing evergreen shrubs. Maquis is char ...

. Classified as critically endangered at the

IUCN redlist The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

, the population is noted as in decline. Threats include removal of habitat for a variety of developments, commercial, residential and recreational, and through logging or fire management practices. Due to its imperilled status, it is identified by the

Alliance for Zero Extinction Formed in 2000 and launched globally in 2005, the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) comprises 100 non-governmental biodiversity conservation organizations working to prevent species extinctions by identifying and safeguarding sites where species ...

as a species in danger of imminent

extinction Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

References

Citations

Notes

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2440959 Nyctophilus Mammals described in 2002 Bats of Oceania