New Zealand bats
| New Zealand bats | ||||||||||||
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Mystacina tuberculata |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Mystacinidae | ||||||||||||
| Dobson , 1875 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Mystacina | ||||||||||||
| Gray , 1843 |
The New Zealand bats (Mystacinidae) are a family of bats . Today it only includes one species, the New Zealand lesser bat ( Mystacina tuberculata ). A second species, the New Zealand greater bat ( Mystacina robusta ) became extinct in the second half of the 20th century. New Zealand bats differ from all other bat species in that they spend most of their lives on the ground.
distribution
New Zealand bats are endemic to New Zealand and smaller offshore islands . With the exception of Chalinolobus tuberculatus from the smooth-nosed family , they were the only mammals on this group of islands until the arrival of humans.
description
The physique of New Zealand bats shows some adaptations to the ground-dwelling way of life, which otherwise do not occur in bats. This allows them to curl their wings in a leather membrane when they are not flying. The legs are short but very muscular. The feet are wide and the toes have sharp claws. They are the only bat species with their thumbs that end in a claw.
The head is characterized by a long nose that protrudes over the mouth and by long ears with a long, pointed tragus . Wide wings make it easier for them to fly away from the ground, the tip of the short tail protrudes from the uropatagium (the flight membrane between the legs). These animals have the thickest fur of all bats, which is gray-brown or brown in color. The small New Zealand bat reaches a head body length of 60 to 70 millimeters and a wingspan of around 30 centimeters. Their weight is 12 to 15 grams. The extinct New Zealand bat was slightly larger and heavier, reaching 25 to 35 grams of body weight.
Way of life
New Zealand bats are forest dwellers who are mostly active in the late evening. They often crawl on the ground looking for food. Thanks to the rolled-up wings, you can use your forelegs for climbing and even climb steep terrain. Hollow trees or small caves serve as a place to sleep, but often they dig their own hiding places with their teeth in the wood or in the ground. These animals live in smaller groups, but little is known about their social structure. They do not hibernate , they just rest and go to the ground to forage on warm winter days.
food
New Zealand bats are omnivores, their diet consists of insects and other arthropods as well as fruits, nectar and pollen. Sometimes they also eat carrion.
Reproduction
Mating mostly takes place in autumn, due to the delayed nesting that can also be observed in other bats, the individual young are often only born between late spring and autumn of the following year. Nothing is known about the time of weaning, the onset of sexual maturity or life expectancy.
threat
The reasons for the threat to the animals are the competition for food and stalking by introduced animals such as rats and cats and the destruction of their habitat by humans. The population of the New Zealand lesser bat is fragmented into about ten populations all over New Zealand, which together comprise only a few thousand animals. The IUCN lists them as endangered (vulnerable). The distribution area of the Great New Zealand bat was recently limited to a small area on the South Island and several small offshore islands. Since 1965 there have been no more sightings of this species, so it is considered extinct.
Systematics
The classification of New Zealand bats in the bats system was controversial for a long time; they were thought to be relatives of the smooth-nosed bats ( Vespertilionidae) or bulldog bats (Molossidae). According to recent morphological and genetic studies, there is a relationship to the rabbit-mouth-like , a group that otherwise only lives in America . However, the exact classification is still unclear. Fossils of six extinct New Zealand bat taxa are known from the Pleistocene of New Zealand and Australia, fossil teeth of a further species ( Mystacina miocenalis ) from the early Miocene of the New Zealand South Island.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 ISBN 0-8018-5789-9
Individual evidence
- ↑ Suzanne J. Hand, Daphne E. Lee, Trevor H. Worthy, Michael Archer, Jennifer P. Worthy, Alan JD Tennyson, Steven W. Salisbury, R. Paul Scofield, Dallas C. Mildenhall, Elizabeth M. Kennedy, Jon K. Lindqvist. 2015. Miocene Fossils Reveal Ancient Roots for New Zealand's Endemic Mystacina (Chiroptera) and Its Rainforest Habitat. PLOS ONE . DOI: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0128871