Eastern broad-nosed bat

Eastern broad-nosed bat
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Vespertilionidae
Genus: Scotorepens
Species: S. orion
Binomial name
Scotorepens orion
(Troughton, 1937)

The eastern broad-nosed bat (Scotorepens orion) is a species of vesper bat. It is found only in Australia, east of the Great Dividing Range, from about Rockhampton to Melbourne, with s small isolated population on the Atherton Tablelands. It is a medium-sized bat, with forearm 32.4 to 38.8 mm. Its fur-colour is a rich dark brown on the back, with a more drab belly, not markedly bicoloured. It can be separated from S. balstoni by its penis morphology, which has eight spines on the head of the glans in an almost circular cluster. It roosts in tree hollows but has been reported to roost in buildings. It is known to share roosts with other similar-sized bats such as the Chocolate Wattled bat. A single young is born in November or December.(Churchill)

One place it has appeared is in Wilson Reserve Ivanhoe Melbourne, 10 km northeast of the Central Business District on the north bank of the Yarra river, where 20 timber roost boxes have been set up by the Friends of Wilson Reserve. Gould's Wattled bats began using the boxes in February 2005 and the first Eastern Broadnosed bat appeared in January 2007. Since then 45 records of this species have been made, including 25 since wrist-banding of bats commenced in September 2011. 18 bats have been banded, 9 male, 9 female, usually solitary, or in pairs. In December 2014, two new females were found in one box, both lactating with attached young, one recently born and still bald, the other older, fully furred and nearly the same size as its mother.

References

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