Ghost Bat

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Ghost Bat

Ghost Bat at Perth Zoo

Conservation status

Vulnerable

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Chiroptera
Family:	Megadermatidae
Genus:	Macroderma
Species:	M. gigas

Binomial name

Macroderma gigas
(Dobson, 1880)

The Ghost Bat (Macroderma gigas) is a bat endemic to Australia that gets its name from the extremely thin skin on its wings that makes it appear ghostly at night. This is mostly a grey bat, with grey fur on its back and pale grey fur on its underside. The Ghost Bat has long, narrow wings and no tail; and has an average length of 11 cm, although females are smaller than the males.

The Ghost Bat roosts in caves, mines, and tunnels in large numbers. Largely insectivorous but will also consume frogs, lizards and other small animals including other bats. It uses its large eyes as well as echolocation to find prey. Once found, it swoops down and grasps the prey with its wings, killing it with its powerful bite. The Ghost Bat is the only carnivorous bat in Australia and is also the largest microbat species in the world. This species is considered to be vulnerable in the wild from destruction of caves for mining purposes and loss of habitat due to land cleared for agricultural use; cave tourism has also been identified as a lesser factor. It inhabits northern Australia from the east to the west coast. There are about 4000 to 6000 in the wild. Females give birth to one young in September or November once every year. Bat Conservation International has created national parks and reserves around northern Australia to try and increase the species population.^{[citation needed]} They have also created special breeding programs and have been attempting to clone species of bats overseas.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] External links

[edit] Book references

Extreme Science: Chasing the Ghost Bat and other Mysteries of Nature, Peter Jedickle (Editor), Griffin Trade, 2001
Bats, The Amazing Upside-downers, Phyllis J. Perry Franklin Watts/Grolier Publishing, 1998