Queensland Tube-nosed Fruit Bat

About the Queensland Tube-nosed Fruit Bat

The eastern or Queensland tube-nosed bat (Nyctimene robinsoni) is a megabat in the family Pteropodidae that lives in north-eastern Australia. N. robinsoni is one of the few species of megabat that roosts solitarily. They get their common name from their raised tubular nostrils which are unlike those of most other species in the family. They are a deep brown with gray heads and sparse yellow spotting.

The first description of the species was published by Oldfield Thomas in 1904, distinguishing the new taxon by comparison to the species Nyctimene major described by George Edward Dobson in 1877. Thomas examined two specimens, nominating a male as the type, these were obtained by Herbert C. Robinson in Cooktown. The synonymy of N. robinsoni includes Nyctimene tryoni and the separation of the Australian population recognised as Nyctimene albiventer, the common tube-nosed fruit-bat which occurs at the island states north of Australia. Nyctimene robinsoni is allied to the cephalotes-group of the genus.

The common name Queensland tube-nosed bat was noted by Ronald Strahan as the only vernacular for the species, where the range of species was thought to be restricted, the name... Wikipedia →