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Inland forest bat
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Chiroptera
Family:	Vespertilionidae
Genus:	Vespadelus
Species:	V. baverstocki
Binomial name
Vespadelus baverstocki (Kitchener, Jones & Caputi, 1987)
Synonyms
Eptesicus baverstocki Kitchener, Jones & Caputi, 1987

The inland forest bat, species Vespadelus baverstocki, is a vespertilionid bat that is found at central and desert regions in Australia. They were first described in 1987, published in a review of poorly known microbat populations. It is a tiny species, with a body around half an inch long, that occupies small cavities while resting. They fly out to forage in the night for insects such as moths.

Taxonomy

The description of the species was published in 1987, assigning the population to the genus Eptesicus. This was later revised to place the group with genus Vespadelus. The type was obtained at Yuinmery, an area in the Mid West of the continent, at an altitude of approximately 450 metres. The specimen, an adult male, was shot and collected by R. A. How in February 1980.

Authors have placed this with the pumilus group' of the genus, an uncertain alliance of the species Vespadelus pumilus and other taxa. Another paper in 1994 recognised the population as species Vespadelus vulturnus, which it closely resembles, but this species concept was cited in a later arrangement in a paper providing a diagnostic of female 'little brown bats' assigned to genus Vespadelus(Queale, 1997; et al). In the outlining the means of determining females of the species in the field, Queale notes this population as part of a regulus complex' (a species complex) that encompasses the populations also recognised a Vespadelus vulturnus, V. regulus and this species, V. baverstocki.

Vernacular for the bat species include 'inland forest' and 'Baverstock's forest bat'. The epithets honour an evolutionary biologist, Peter Raymond Baverstock, whose works include examining the systematics of Australian bats.

Description

A tiny species of the genus Vespadelus, the weight range is three to six grams. The forearm measurement range is twenty six to thirty two millimetres. The colour of the fur at the back is a greyish-brown or lighter fawn brown, this distinguishes two forms, the belly is respectively whitish or white in these groups. The face is pinkish and tragus sometimes white. The first description notes the greatest length of the skull as a range of 11.6 to 12.5 millimetres, giving a mean length of 12.1 mm, a feature the authors report as moderately long. The measurements of the body, in that comparative study of species then assigned to Eptesicus, were also reported as moderate in length, a range of 36 to 44 mm resulting in a mean length of 40.0 mm; the wing measurements and tibia lengths were reported as relatively small.

The size of the colony is recorded as several individuals at a site, or up to fifty in one locality.

Vespadelus baverstocki is morphologically similar to several other species, Vespadelus finlaysoni, V. darlingtoni and V. vulturnus, and difficult to distinguish from Vespadelus regulus. The distinction in males may be determined by comparative morphology of the genitalia in captives, or the size and form of the baculum removed from that.

Distribution and habitat

A widely distributed inland species, Vespadelus baverstocki is found at the arid centre of the eastern states of Australia and an isolated population in Western Australia. They occupy small cavities in rocky outcrops, leaving these to hunt and pursue insects. The habits are poorly known, but at least of their diet is presumed to be moths. They are recorded using very small and narrowly accessed hollows in small trees or old growth timber. The habitat type may be desert, woodland, or shrubland.

Threats include loss of habitat for roosts and foraging, the result of altered agricultural and forestry practices that dilapidate the local ecology.

References

1. ^ Lumsden, L.; Reardon, T.; Ellis, M. (2008). "Vespadelus baverstocki". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. IUCN: e.T7913A12868915. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T7913A12868915.en. Retrieved 9 November 2017. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
2. ^ Jackson, S.M.; Groves, C. (2015). Taxonomy of Australian Mammals. Csiro Publishing. p. 640. ISBN 9781486300136.
3. ^ Kitchener, D.J.; Jones, B.; Caputi, N. (1987). "Revision of Australian Eptesicus (Microchiroptera: Vespertilionidae)". Records of the Western Australian Museum. 13: 427–500. ISSN 0312-3162.
4. ^ Simmons, N.B. (2005). "Order Chiroptera". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 312–529. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
5. ^ Queale, L.F. (1997). "Field identification of female little brown bats Vespadelus Spp. (Chiroptera : Vespertilionidae) in South Australia". Records of the South Australian Museum. 30 (1997–1998): 28–33.
6. ^ Richards, G.C.; Hall, L.S.; Parish, S. (photography) (2012). A natural history of Australian bats : working the night shift. CSIRO Pub. pp. 18, 172. ISBN 9780643103740.
7. ^ "Inland Forest Bat, Scientific name: Vespadelus baverstocki". The Australian Museum. 2018-10-18. Retrieved 31 December 2018.

External links

• Image of the type specimen's skull

• IUCN Red List least concern species
• Bats of Australia
• Mammals of Western Australia
• Mammals of South Australia
• Mammals of the Northern Territory
• Mammals of New South Wales
• Mammals of Victoria (Australia)
• Vespadelus
• Mammals described in 1987