Lord Howe long-eared bat
Lord Howe long-eared bat | |
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Conservation status | |
![]() Extinct (IUCN 3.1)[1] | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Chiroptera |
Family: | Vespertilionidae |
Genus: | Nyctophilus |
Species: | †N. howensis |
Binomial name | |
†Nyctophilus howensis McKean, 1975.[2] | |
Location of Lord Howe Island |
The Lord Howe long-eared bat (Nyctophilus howensis) was a vespertilionid bat known only by a single specimen, a skull found on Lord Howe Island in 1972. A mammalian insectivorous species resembling the long-eared Nyctophilus, with an elongated head that is comparatively larger, about which almost nothing is known. The bat may have been casually observed in flight during the twentieth century, but is likely to have become extinct since the island's discovery and occupation. The demise of N. howensis is possibly the result of shipwrecked rats and the owls introduced to control them.
Taxonomy
The taxon was published by John McKean in 1975 as a new species of the genus Nyctophilus.[2] A revision of the genus (Parnaby, 2009), proposed that a reassessment of the status might separate this species to a new genus.[3] The placement with genus Nyctophilus was regarded as an indefinite arrangement, being limited by a single and incomplete specimen of an unobserved species.[4]
The holotype is incomplete subfossil material found on a ledge in a cavern during a survey by palaeontologist G. F. van Tets. A label with the specimen notes the type location as beyond the vine covered entrance to a cave, an ingress within an opening in the forest. The site is identified as Gooseberry Cave and located at the northern end of the island.[3] The cavern where the holotype was located, probably consumed and deposited there by an owl, is detailed as a calcarenite cave.[3][5]
Common names include Lord Howe island bat.[6] The specific epithet combines 'Howe', the island named for Richard Howe, and ensis to mean 'inhabiting that place'.[7]
Description
The species was a vespertilionid bat, akin to the 'large-eared' species of Nyctophilus and Pharotis, with a large head and body indicated by the size of the skull. The palate is proportionally longer than the rows of teeth, and the head long and narrow. The fore-arm length would be around fifty millimetres, and weight estimated at 20 grams.[8][4]
The only specimen is an almost complete skull, of unknown gender, missing some teeth and the periotic bones. The greatest length of the specimen is 23.09 millimetres, longer than those of the larger species of Nyctophilus, N. corbeni and N. major; other dimensions for the skull are also greater than these species. The side view is significantly lower in profile than others of the genus. The review of larger taxa named as Nyctophilus timoriensis by Parnaby in 2009, contains a rediagnosis of this species. This examines the relative size of cranial features, principally the greater size and low and narrow profile of a skull in what would be the largest species of the genus. The taxonomic review concludes there is little evidence to support whether the Lord Howe long-eared bat in fact had large ears, or if indications of any facial features, similar to any other species of Nyctophilus, were present in the species. The morphology of the face is difficult to determine, features of larger Nyctophilus such as the size and form of a pre-nasal ridge or rudimentary nose-leaf appendages, are also found in other species of Vespertilionidae. The lack of material evidence and the unstable arrangements of related taxa, the systematics of which are being reexamined, indicates an affinity with the genus can only be implied.[3]
Ecology
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Howea_forsteriana_Lord_Howe_Island.jpg/220px-Howea_forsteriana_Lord_Howe_Island.jpg)
Almost no information on the species is available, the biology and ecology is presumed to be similar to associated species. The skull was obtained in a cave at the island, as a modern deposit of material, and this the only physical source of information. The determined age of the specimen, near contemporary (20th century), suggested the unreported group had disappeared recently.[4] The small island is a relic of an eroded volcano, approximately 600 kilometres east of the Australian continent, with unique subtropical vegetation assemblages. The flora and fauna is related to that of Australia, yet presenting a high degree of endemism, and Lord Howe has been inhabited by at least two other bats. Nyctophilus howensis is presumed to have descended from wind-blown bats from the nearby continent.[9]
An insectivorous flying mammal population, a vespertilionid bat, inhabiting an island ecology, with no known threat until the accidental introduction of a cosmopolitan rat species Rattus norvegicus and the deliberate importation of an owl which may have contributed to the decline of the population.[4] The brown rats established themselves at Lord Howe Island in 1918, when the ship Makambo wrecked at a reef and the load of copra, cargo and these rats landed at Ned's Beach and founded a new colony. The new arrivals ate the fruit of the kentia palms, impacting an industry that cultivated them for export as a popular house plant, and probably incurred on the daytime roosts of this species; the exploitation of this bat as a food by the rats is presumed to have followed. Australian authorities elected to introduce masked and barn owls[10] as an effective controller of rat populations, although they are also known to occasionally catch slower flying bats such as Nyctophilus in their native range. One other bat is recorded living at the island, the large forest bat Vespadelus darlingtoni, which is common and widespread in southeast Australia and Tasmania.[8]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Lord_Howe_ISS006-E-5731.png/220px-Lord_Howe_ISS006-E-5731.png)
It is presumed extinct (EPBC Act 1999; van Dyck & Strahan, 2008),[6][1] or if still extant, then critically endangered at state and international listings.[5][11] Due to its current conservation status, the species is identified by the Alliance for Zero Extinction as in danger of imminent extinction.[12] Actions benefiting the conservation of the species include the eradication of the owl introduced to control the rat irruption, although later surveys to locate the species (1999) have been unsuccessful.[1] Informal reports of two different bats visible at dusk indicate a larger unidentified species is present on the island.[1] The presumption of the existence of a large unknown species and its persistence through the twentieth century, aside from the age of that sub-fossil material, is weakly supported by these observations.[5] The earliest of these was during a survey (Etheridge, 1889)[13] and later anecdotal reports of a second species, larger than Chalinolobus morio, continued to be reported by the island's colonists.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d Lumsden, L.F.; Reardon, T.B. (2020). "Nyctophilus howensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T15006A22009211. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T15006A22009211.en.
- ^ a b McKean, John L. (1975). "Bats of Lord Howe Island with the description of a new Nyctophiline bat". Journal of the Australian Mammal Society. 1 (4): 329–32. doi:10.1071/AM75003. S2CID 254725278.
- ^ a b c d Parnaby, H. E. (January 2009). "A taxonomic review of Australian Greater Long-eared Bats previously known as Nyctophilus timoriensis (Chiroptera:Vespertilionidae) and some associated taxa". Australian Zoologist. 35 (1): 39–81. doi:10.7882/AZ.2009.005.
- ^ a b c d Menkhorst, P.W.; Knight, F. (2011). A field guide to the mammals of Australia (3rd ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. p. 172. ISBN 9780195573954.
- ^ a b c d Jackson, S.; Groves, C. (2015). Taxonomy of Australian Mammals. CSIRO Publishing. p. 269. ISBN 9781486300136.
- ^ a b "Species Nyctophilus howensis McKean, 1975 Lord Howe Island Bat, Lord Howe Long-eared Bat". Australian Faunal Directory. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
- ^ Strahan, Ronald; Conder, Pamela (2007). Dictionary of Australian and New Guinean Mammals. CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 9780643100060.
- ^ a b Richards, G.C.; Hall, L.S.; Parish, S. (photography) (2012). A natural history of Australian bats : working the night shift. CSIRO Pub. pp. 26, 163. ISBN 9780643103740.
- ^ Daniel, M.J.; Williams, G.R. (1984). "A survey of the distribution, seasonal activity and roost sites of New Zealand bats" (PDF). New Zealand Journal of Ecology. 7: 9–25.
- ^ Department of Environment and Climate Change (NSW) (2007). Lord Howe Island Biodiversity Management Plan (PDF) (Report). Sydney: Department of Environment and Climate Change (NSW). p. 24.
- ^ "Nyctophilus howensis Species Account". Mammal Diversity Database. American Society of Mammalogists. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
- ^ "A Five-Year Plan for Global Bat Conservation" (PDF). batcon.org. Bat Conservation International. October 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- ^ Etheridge, R. (31 December 1889). "The general zoology of Lord Howe Island; containing also an account of the collections made by the Australian Museum Collecting Party, Aug.–Sept., 1887" (PDF). Australian Museum Memoir. 2 (1): 1–42. doi:10.3853/j.0067-1967.2.1889.479.
- v
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- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Chiroptera
- Family: Vespertilionidae
- Hoary bat (A. cinereus)
- Big red bat (A. egregius)
- Hawaiian hoary bat (A. semotus)
- A. villosissimus
- Banana serotine(A. nanus)
- Collared pipistrelle (A. aureocollaris)
- Black-gilded pipistrelle (A. circumdatus)
- Coppery pipistrelle (A. cuprosus)
- Social pipistrelle (A. societatis)
- Necklace pipistrelle (A. torquatus)
- Western barbastelle (B. barbastellus)
- Beijing barbastelle (B. beijingensis)
- Eastern barbastelle (B. darjelingensis)
- Asian barbastelle (B. leucomelas)
- Van Gelder's bat (B. dubiaquercus)
- Large-eared pied bat (C. dwyeri)
- Gould's wattled bat (C. gouldii)
- Chocolate wattled bat (C. morio)
- New Caledonia wattled bat (C. neocaledonicus)
- Hoary wattled bat (C. nigrogriseus)
- Little pied bat (C. picatus)
- New Zealand long-tailed bat (C. tuberculatus)
- Mexican big-eared bat (C. mexicanus)
- Rafinesque's big-eared bat (C. rafinesquii)
- Townsend's big-eared bat (C. townsendii)
- Southern yellow bat (D. ega)
- Cuban yellow bat (D. insularis)
- Northern yellow bat (D. intermedius)
- Western yellow bat (D. xanthinus)
- E. anatolicus
- Little black serotine (E. andinus)
- Bobrinski's serotine (E. bobrinskoi)
- Botta's serotine (E. bottae)
- Brazilian brown bat (E. brasiliensis)
- E. chiriquinus
- Diminutive serotine (E. diminutus)
- Surat serotine (E. dimissus)
- Horn-skinned bat (E. floweri)
- Argentine brown bat (E. furinalis)
- Big brown bat (E. fuscus)
- Gobi big brown bat (E. gobiensis)
- Guadeloupe big brown bat (E. guadeloupensis)
- Long-tailed house bat (E. hottentotus)
- Harmless serotine (E. innoxius)
- E. isabellinus
- E. japonensis
- Kobayashi's bat (E. kobayashii)
- E. lobatus
- Sind bat (E. nasutus)
- Northern bat (E. nilssonii)
- E. ognevi
- E. pachyomus
- Thick-eared bat (E. pachyotis)
- Lagos serotine (E. platyops)
- Serotine bat (E. serotinus)
- E. taddeii
- Sombre bat (E. tatei)
- Spotted bat (E. maculatum)
- Disk-footed bat (E. denticulus)
- Chocolate pipistrelle (F. affinis)
- Western false pipistrelle (F. mackenziei)
- Pungent pipistrelle (F. mordax)
- Peters's pipistrelle (F. petersi)
- Eastern false pipistrelle (F. tasmaniensis)
- Allen's striped bat (G. alboguttata)
- Silvered bat (G. argentata)
- Beatrix's bat (G. beatrix)
- Curry's bat (G. curryae)
- Bibundi bat (G. egeria)
- Glen's wattled bat (G. gleni)
- Allen's spotted bat (G. humeralis)
- Kenyan wattled bat (G. kenyacola)
- Machado's butterfly bat (G. machadoi)
- Abo bat (G. poensis)
- Variegated butterfly bat (G. variegata)
- G. aquilus
- G. bucephalus
- Javan thick-thumbed bat (G. javanus)
- Common thick-thumbed bat (G. tylopus)
- Blanford's bat (H. blanfordi)
- False serotine bat (H. doriae)
- Gaskell's false serotine (H. gaskelli)
- Tickell's bat (H. tickelli)
- Large false serotine (H. tomesi)
- Strange big-eared brown bat (H. alienus)
- H. diaphanopterus
- Humboldt big-eared brown bat (H. humboldti)
- Thomas's big-eared brown bat (H. laephotis)
- Big-eared brown bat (H. macrotus)
- Southern big-eared brown bat (H. magellanicus)
- Small big-eared brown bat (H. montanus)
- Tropical big-eared brown bat (H. velatus)
- H. alaschanicus
- H. anthonyi
- Arabian pipistrelle (H. arabicus)
- Desert pipistrelle (H. ariel)
- H. bemainty
- Cadorna's pipistrelle (H. cadornae)
- Broad-headed pipistrelle (H. crassulus)
- Long-toothed pipistrelle (H. dolichodon)
- Eisentraut's pipistrelle (H. eisentrauti)
- Brown pipistrelle (H. imbricatus)
- Joffre's pipistrelle (H. joffrei)
- Red-brown pipistrelle (H. kitcheneri)
- Lanza's pipistrelle (H. lanzai)
- Burma pipistrelle (H. lophurus)
- Big-eared pipistrelle (H. macrotis)
- Mouselike pipistrelle (H. musciculus)
- Chinese pipistrelle (H. pulveratus)
- Savi's pipistrelle (H. savii)
- Vordermann's pipistrelle (H. vordermanni)
- Great evening bat (I. io)
- Allen's big-eared bat (I. phyllotis)
- Angolan long-eared bat (L. angolensis)
- Botswanan long-eared bat (L. botswanae)
- Namib long-eared bat (L. namibensis)
- De Winton's long-eared bat (L. wintoni)
- Silver-haired bat (L. noctivagans)
- L. arequipae
- L. atratus
- Desert red bat (L. blossevillii)
- Eastern red bat (L. borealis)
- Tacarcuna bat (L. castaneus)
- Jamaican red bat (L. degelidus)
- Hairy-tailed bat (L. ebenus)
- Western red bat (L. frantzii))
- Minor red bat (L. minor)
- Pfeiffer's red bat (L. pfeifferi)
- Saline red bat (L. salinae)
- Seminole bat (L. seminolus)
- Cinnamon red bat (L. varius)
- Moloney's mimic bat (M. moloneyi)
- Dark-brown serotine (N. brunnea)
- Cape serotine (N. capensis)
- Yellow serotine (N. flavescens)
- N. grandidieri
- Tiny serotine (N. guineensis)
- N. isabella
- Isalo serotine (N. malagasyensis)
- Malagasy serotine (N. matroka)
- Melck's house bat (N. melckorum)
- Rendall's serotine (N. rendalli)
- N. robertsi
- Rosevear's serotine (N. roseveari)
- Somali serotine (N. somalica)
- N. stanleyi
- White-winged serotine (N. tenuipinnis)
- Zulu serotine (N. zuluensis)
- Pied bat (N. superba)
- Birdlike noctule (N. aviator)
- Azores noctule (N. azoreum)
- Nyctalus furvus (N. furvus)
- Greater noctule bat (N. lasiopterus)
- Lesser noctule (N. leisleri)
- Mountain noctule (N. montanus)
- Common noctule (N. noctula)
- Chinese noctule (N. plancyi)
- Schlieffen's bat (N. schlieffeni)
- Temminck's mysterious bat (N. aenobarbus)
- Cuban evening bat (N. cubanus)
- Evening bat (N. humeralis)
- Northern long-eared bat (N. arnhemensis)
- Eastern long-eared bat (N. bifax)
- N. corbeni
- N. daedalus
- Lesser long-eared bat (N. geoffroyi)
- Gould's long-eared bat (N. gouldi)
- Sunda long-eared bat (N. heran)
- Lord Howe long-eared bat (N. howensis)
- N. major
- Small-toothed long-eared bat (N. microdon)
- New Guinea long-eared bat (N. microtis)
- New Caledonian long-eared bat (N. nebulosus)
- Tasmanian long-eared bat (N. sherrini)
- Mount Missim long-eared bat (N. shirleyae)
- Greater long-eared bat (N. timoriensis)
- Pygmy long-eared bat (N. walkeri)
- Desert long-eared bat (O. hemprichii)
- Otonycteris leucophaea (O. leucophaea)
- Western pipistrelle (P. hesperus)
- Eastern pipistrelle (P. subflavus)
- New Guinea big-eared bat (P. imogene)
- Rohu's bat (P. brachypterus)
- Japanese house bat (P. abramus)
- Forest pipistrelle (P. adamsi)
- Mount Gargues pipistrelle (P. aero)
- Anchieta's pipistrelle (P. anchietae)
- Angulate pipistrelle (P. angulatus)
- Kelaart's pipistrelle (P. ceylonicus)
- Greater Papuan pipistrelle (P. collinus)
- Indian pipistrelle (P. coromandra)
- P. dhofarensis
- Egyptian pipistrelle (P. deserti)
- Endo's pipistrelle (P. endoi)
- P. hanaki
- Dusky pipistrelle (P. hesperidus)
- Aellen's pipistrelle (P. inexspectatus)
- Java pipistrelle (P. javanicus)
- Kuhl's pipistrelle (P. kuhlii)
- Madeira pipistrelle (P. maderensis)
- Minahassa pipistrelle (P. minahassae)
- Christmas Island pipistrelle (P. murrayi)
- Tiny pipistrelle (P. nanulus)
- Nathusius's pipistrelle (P. nathusii)
- Lesser Papuan pipistrelle (P. papuanus)
- Mount Popa pipistrelle (P. paterculus)
- Dar es Salaam pipistrelle (P. permixtus)
- Common pipistrelle (P. pipistrellus)
- Soprano pipistrelle (P. pygmaeus)
- P. raceyi
- Rüppell's pipistrelle (P. rueppellii)
- Rusty pipistrelle (P. rusticus)
- Narrow-winged pipistrelle (P. stenopterus)
- Sturdee's pipistrelle (P. sturdeei)
- Least pipistrelle (P. tenuis)
- Watts's pipistrelle (P. wattsi)
- Northern pipistrelle (P. westralis)
- P. ariel
- Brown long-eared bat (P. auritus)
- Grey long-eared bat (P. austriacus)
- Ethiopian big-eared bat (P. balensis)
- P. begognae
- Christie's big-eared bat (P. christiei)
- P. gaisleri
- P. homochrous
- Kolombatovic's long-eared bat (P. kolombatovici)
- P. kozlovi
- Alpine long-eared bat (P. macrobullaris)
- Ognev's long-eared bat (P. ognevi
- Japanese long-eared bat (P. sacrimontis)
- Sardinian long-eared bat (P. sardus)
- P. strelkovi
- Taiwan big-eared bat (P. taivanus)
- Canary big-eared bat (P. teneriffae)
- P. turkmenicus
- P. wardi
- Yucatan yellow bat (R. aeneus)
- Allen's yellow bat (R. alleni)
- Bickham's little yellow bat (R. bickhami)
- Genoways's yellow bat (R. genowaysi)
- Slender yellow bat (R. gracilis)
- Husson's yellow bat (R. hussoni)
- Thomas's yellow bat (R. io
- Menchu's little yellow bat (R. menchuae)
- Tiny yellow bat (R. minutilla)
- Least yellow bat (R. mira)
- Little yellow bat (R. parvula)
- Black-winged little yellow bat (R. tumida)
- R. velilla
- Rüppell's broad-nosed bat (S. rueppellii)
- White-bellied lesser house bat (S. albigula)
- Light-winged lesser house bat (S. albofuscus)
- Hinde's lesser house bat (S. hindei)
- Dark-winged lesser house bat (S. hirundo)
- Desert yellow bat (S. pallidus)
- Harlequin bat (S. ornatus)
- S. alvenslebeni
- Andrew Rebori's house bat (S. andrewreborii)
- Lesser yellow bat (S. borbonicus)
- Sulawesi yellow bat (S. celebensis)
- Sody's yellow house bat (S. collinus)
- African yellow bat (S. dinganii)
- Ejeta's house bat (S. ejetai)
- Greater Asiatic yellow bat (S. heathii)
- Lesser Asiatic yellow bat (S. kuhlii)
- White-bellied yellow bat (S. leucogaster)
- Livingstone's house bat (S. livingstonii)
- Marovaza house bat (S. marovaza)
- Schreber's yellow bat (S. nigrita)
- S. nigritellus
- Robbins's yellow bat (S. nucella)
- Nut-colored yellow bat (S. nux)
- Robust yellow bat (S. robustus)
- S. tandrefana
- Trujillo’s house bat (S. trujilloi)
- Greenish yellow bat (S. viridis)
- Inland broad-nosed bat (S. balstoni)
- Little broad-nosed bat (S. greyii)
- Eastern broad-nosed bat (S. orion)
- Northern broad-nosed bat (S. sanborni)
- Dormer's bat (S. dormeri)
- T. fulvida
- T. malayana
- Lesser bamboo bat (T. pachypus)
- Pygmy bamboo bat (T. pygmaeus)
- Greater bamboo bat (T. robustula)
- T. tonkinensis
- Inland forest bat (V. baverstocki)
- Northern cave bat (V. caurinus)
- Large forest bat (V. darlingtoni)
- Yellow-lipped bat (V. douglasorum)
- Finlayson's cave bat (V. finlaysoni)
- Eastern forest bat (V. pumilus)
- Southern forest bat (V. regulus)
- Eastern cave bat (V. troughtoni)
- Little forest bat (V. vulturnus)
- Parti-coloured bat (V. murinus)
- Asian particolored bat (V. sinensis)