Australasian Bent-winged Bat

About the Australasian Bent-winged Bat

The Australasian bent-wing bat (Miniopterus orianae) is a species of vesper bat in the family Miniopteridae. It is found in Australia and in Southeast Asia. The Australasian bent-wing bat was described as a new species in 1922 by British zoologist Oldfield Thomas.

The holotype had been collected on 9 July 1922 by Oriana F. Wilson, widow of Antarctic explorer Edward Adrian Wilson. Thomas named the species Miniopterus orianae. This species was once considered a subspecies of common bent-wing bat. It is now accepted that the Australasian bent-winged bat and the Eastern bent-winged bat are two distinct species.

The Australasian bent-wing bat has three subspecies: M. orianae bassanii (the southern bent-wing bat), M. o. orianae (the northern bent-wing bat), and M. o. oceanensis (the eastern bent-wing bat). It is known to harbor the blood parasite Polychromophilus melanipherus, though one study found that bats with the blood parasite did not appear to suffer deleterious effects such as anemia or low body weight. M. orianae bassanii only occurs in southwestern Victoria and southeastern South Australia.

M. orianae oceanensis occurs widely... Wikipedia →