Species Mormopterus planiceps (Peters, 1866)
Little Mastiff-bat, Southern Freetail-bat
- Nyctinomus planiceps Peters, W. 1866. Über einige neue oder weniger bekannte Flederthiere. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1866: 16-25 [23].
Type data:
Lectotype SMF 4283 ♀ skin (wet) & skull, Australia [as Australien (angeblich aus Sydney)], believed by Iredale & Troughton (1934: 101) to be WA.Type locality references:
Iredale, T. & Troughton, E. le G. 1934. A check-list of the mammals recorded from Australia. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 6: i-xii 1-122. - Nyctinomus petersi Leche, W. 1884. On some species of Chiroptera from Australia. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1884: 49-54 [publication date established from Duncan, F.M. 1937. On the dates of publication of the Society's 'Proceedings', 1859–1926. With an appendix containing the dates of publication of 'Proceedings', 1830–1858, compiled by the late F.H. Waterhouse, and of the 'Transactions', 1853–1869, by the late Henry Peavot, originally published in P.Z.S. 1893, 1913. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 107: 71–84 [74]] [49].
Type data:
Syntype(s) NHRM A59/1983809.3136 ♀ skin (wet) skull extracted (not found in NHRM), 'South Australia'; NHRM A59/1983809.3137 ♂ skin (wet) skull not extracted, 'South Australia'; NHRM A59/1983809.3138 ♂ skin (wet) skull not extracted, 'South Australia'; BMNH 90.8.1.12 ♀ skin (wet) & skull, 'South Australia'.
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- Hill, J.E. 1961. Indo-Australian bats of the genus Tadarida. Mammalia 25: 29-56 [45-46]
- Koopman, K.F. 1984. Taxonomic and distributional notes on tropical Australian bats. American Museum Novitates 2778: 1-48 [29-31]
Distribution
IBRA
NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Channel Country (CHC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Riverina (RIV), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)
Original AFD Distribution Data
Australian Region
- Australia
- New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin
- Northern Territory: Lake Eyre basin, W plateau
- Queensland: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin
- South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, SE coastal, W plateau
- Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
- Western Australia: SW coastal, W plateau
Ecological Descriptors
Gregarious, predator, territorial, tree hole, volant.
Extra Ecological Information
Forages on ground*, roosts also in buildings or crevices.
General References
Crichton, E.G. & Krutzsch, P.H. 1987. Reproductive biology of the female little mastiff bat, Mormopterus planiceps (Chiroptera: Molossidae) in southeast Australia. American Journal of Anatomy 178: 369-386
Freeman, P.W. 1981. A multivariate study of the family Molossidae (Mammalia, Chiroptera): morphology, ecology, evolution. Fieldiana Zoology ns 7: i-viii 1-173
Holsworth, W.N. 1986. Homing ability of the little mastiff-bat Mormopterus planiceps. Macroderma 2: 54-58
Koopman, K.F. 1982. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 109 Bats from eastern Papua and the east Papuan Islands. American Museum Novitates 2747: 1-34
Krutzsch, P.H. & Crichton, E.G. 1987. Reproductive biology of the male little mastiff bat, Mormopterus planiceps (Chiroptera: Molossidae). in south east Australia. Australian Journal of Biological Sciences 40: 203-210
Kulzer, E., Nelson, J.E., McKean, J.L. & Möhres, F.P. 1970. Untersuchungen über die Temperaturregulation australischer Fledermäuse (Microchiroptera). Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Physiologie 69: 426-451
McKean, J.L. & Hamilton-Smith, E. 1967. Litter size and maternity sites in Australian bats (Chiroptera). Victorian Naturalist 84: 203-206
McKenzie, N.L. 1995. Little Northern Freetail-bat Mormopterus loriae. pp. 482-483 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 pp.
Richards, G.C. 1995. Southern Freetail-bat Mormopterus planiceps. pp. 485-486 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 pp.
Vestjens, W.J.M. & Hall, L.S. 1977. Stomach contents of forty-two species of bats from the Australasian region. Australian Wildlife Research 4: 25-35
Woodside, D.P. & Taylor, K.J. 1985. Echolocation calls of fourteen bats from eastern New South Wales. Australian Mammalogy 8: 279-298 (as M. loriae)
Ziegler, A.C. 1982. An ecological check-list of New Guinea Recent mammals. pp. 863-894 in Gressitt, J.L. (ed.). Biogeography and Ecology of New Guinea. The Hague & London : W. Junk Vol. 2(4) vii 983 pp.
Common Name References
ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study (Little Mastiff-bat)
Clayton, M., Wombey, J.C., Mason, I.J., Chesser, R.T. & Wells, A. 2006. CSIRO List of Australian Vertebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing iv 162 pp. [110] (Southern Freetail-bat)