Little Long-fingered Bat

About the Little Long-fingered Bat

The little bent-wing bat or little long-fingered bat (Miniopterus australis) is a species of vesper bat in the family Miniopteridae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vanuatu. The species was first described by Robert Tomes in his 1858 monograph of the genus. Tomes distinguished the new species with a comparison to Miniopterus blepotis, in details of morphology and fur, and with standardised measurements using the breadth of the forearm; M. bleopotis was assigned in the broadly dispersed Miniopterus schreibersi species complex. The type locality is named as Lifu in the Loyalty Islands, a province of New Caledonia. Tomes assigned the specific epithet australis when he first regarded the population as endemic to Australia, but realised the series of specimens he assembled for his revision included those collected in Timor and presumed they also occurred at other islands of the regions. While recognising this as a misnomer, Tomes noted he had already applied this name in museum collections prior to publication and conserved his first choice to avoid any subsequent confusion.

The author also noted a specimen from the Leyden Museum in his monograph... Wikipedia →