Finlayson's Cave Bat

About the Finlayson's Cave Bat

Finlayson's cave bat (Vespadelus finlaysoni) is a species of vesper bat found only in Australia. The description of Vespadelus finlaysoni was first published in 1987, separated as a new species in a revision of the genus Eptesicus. The population had been included with Vespadelus pumilus, then placed as Pipistrellus (Vespadelus) pumilis in 1993 and 1994 revisions, but reëlevated to species status in 1997. The publication in conservation listings had used the name Eptesicus finlaysoni, synonymous with the later combination. The holotype was collected at Cossack, Western Australia. This specimen, an adult male, was obtained from the roof of the Customs House (altitude 5 metres asl) by N.L. McKenzie on 7 August 1984 and deposited at the Western Australian Museum (WAM M22407).

Common names have included the inland—or Finlayson's—cave bat, or little cave eptesicus and little brown bat. The epithet and appellation is given for the South Australian field researcher and mammalogist H. H. Finlayson, noted for his research in the regions inhabited by the species.

A small microbat, weighing 3 to 7 grams with a forearm length of 30 to 37 millimetres. The fur at... Wikipedia →