Semon's leaf-nosed bat or Semon's roundleaf bat (''Hipposideros semoni'') is a species of
bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...
in the family
Hipposideridae
The Hipposideridae are a family of bats commonly known as the Old World leaf-nosed bats. While it has often been seen as a subfamily, Hipposiderinae, of the family Rhinolophidae, it is now more generally classified as its own family.Simmons, 20 ...
.
[Van Dyke, S. and Strahan, R. (eds.) (2008) ''The Mammals of Australia'', Third Edition, New Holland / Queensland Museum, Brisbane ] 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
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 and etymology
It was
described as a new species in 1903 by German zoologist
Paul Matschie
Paul Matschie
Paul Matschie (11 August 1861, Brandenburg an der Havel – 7 March 1926, Friedenau) was a German zoologist.
He studied mathematics and natural sciences at the Universities of Halle and Berlin, afterwards working as an unpaid v ...
. The eponym for the
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 ...
"''semoni''" was fellow German zoologist
Richard Semon
Richard Wolfgang Semon (22 August 1859, in Berlin – 27 December 1918, in Munich) was a German zoologist, explorer, evolutionary biologist, a memory researcher who believed in the inheritance of acquired characteristics and applied this to social ...
. Semon's research voyage to Australia procured 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 ...
that Matschie used to describe the new species.
Description
Its head and body is long, while its wingspan is approximately . Individuals weigh . It has long, narrow ears with sharply pointed tips. Its fur is a dark, smoky gray in color, with individual hairs relatively long.
Biology and ecology
It is
nocturnal
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...
, roosting in sheltered places during the day such as abandoned mines, caves, hollow trees, and rock fissures. It will roost singly or in small colonies. It is
insectivorous
A robber fly eating a hoverfly
An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects.
The first vertebrate insectivores were ...
, preying on
arthropod
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...
s such as spiders, beetles, and moths. While foraging, it flies close to the ground, at heights less than . It is possibly a prey species of the
ghost bat
The ghost bat (''Macroderma gigas'') is a species of bat found in northern Australia. The species is the only Australian bat that preys on large vertebrates – birds, reptiles and other mammals – which they detect using acute sight and heari ...
, which is known to consume other bat species in the family
Hipposideridae
The Hipposideridae are a family of bats commonly known as the Old World leaf-nosed bats. While it has often been seen as a subfamily, Hipposiderinae, of the family Rhinolophidae, it is now more generally classified as its own family.Simmons, 20 ...
.
Conservation
It is currently evaluated as
least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
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 ...
—its lowest conservation priority.
However, it has a more urgent conservation status in Australia.
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
listed it as endangered under the
Nature Conservation Act 1992
The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota.
As originally published, it prov ...
, while nationally it is listed as vulnerable 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 ...
.
Conservation and management actions recommended in Australia include preventing roost disturbance and destruction. Additionally, there is a stated need to determine the extent of the species range in Australia, as well as to assess what its requirements are for acceptable roosts.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1768789
Hipposideros
Bats of Australia
Bats of Oceania
Mammals of Papua New Guinea
Mammals of Queensland
Nature Conservation Act endangered biota
EPBC Act vulnerable biota
Mammals described in 1903
Taxa named by Paul Matschie
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Bats of New Guinea