Ozimops halli Reardon, McKenzie &amp; Adams 2014
Creators: name: Wilson, Don E.
name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Molossidae
Ozimops
Ozimops halli

description: 118. Cape York Free-tailed Bat <i>Ozimops halli</i> <b>French:</b> Tadaride de Cape York / <b>German:</b> Cape-York-Bulldogfledermaus / Spanish: Murciélago rabudo de Cape York <b>Other common names:</b> Cape York Mastiff Bat, Hall's Free-tailed Bat <b>Taxonomy.</b> Mormopterus (Ozimops) halli Reardon, McKenzie &amp; Adams in Reardon et al., 2014, “ Ironbark Dam, Oyala Thumotang National Park, Queensland [Austral1a}, 13.625°S, 142.801 °E.” Ozimops halli was previously synonymized within O. loriae. It was identified as a distinct taxon (“species 5 populations S and T”) by M. Adams and colleagues in 1988, and was known informally by that identity until formally described by T. B. Reardon and colleagues in 2014 and placed in the Mormopterus subgenus Ozimops. Ozimops was then elevated to genus level by S. M. Jackson and C. P. Groves in 2015. Monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> Known only from three locations on Cape York Peninsula (plains in the Coen-Archer River area, near Normanton, and about halfway between Coen and Normanton), Queensland, NE Australia. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head—body 47-58 mm, tail 25-36 mm, forearm 31-35 mm; weight 6-9 g. Fur on back is variable from rich brown to orange brown, only slightly lighter on underside; fur on side of neck has a yellowish tinge. Ears are triangular with half-round antitragus. Skin on ears, wings, and muzzle is very dark brown. The species is similar in appearance to Lumsden’s Free-tailed Bat (O. lumsdenae), but smaller on most measurements. Males are distinguishable from other Ozimops species by their short, tapering glans penis with a ventral transverse lip at about half the length of glans body, and with large epithelial spines that cover glans body dorsally from head to base and ventrally from lip to base. Skull is large and robust, larger than all other Ozimops species except Lumsden’s Free-tailed Bat. Lambdoidalcrest is strongly developed but sagittal crest is not. Dental formula is as in congeners, but in some (presumably older) specimens one or both little upper premolars may be missing. The species can be distinguished from other Ozimops by a unique combination of allozyme alleles with number offixed differences ranging from four to seven. <b>Habitat.</b> All known records come from bats captured in mist nets set near or over water, in open eucalypt woodlands. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> The Cape York Free-tailed Bat is thought to feed on flying insects in open areas, above the canopy or in gaps in vegetation. <b>Breeding.</b> No information. <b>Activity patterns.</b> The Cape York Free-tailed Bat is nocturnal. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> No information. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List (as Mormopterus hall), because the population size, area of occupancy, and threats are largely unknown. The Cape York Free-tailed Bat is known only from 13 specimens. <b>Bibliography.</b> Adams et al. (1988), Jackson &amp; Groves (2015), Reardon et al. (2014).
description: Published as part of <i>Don E. Wilson &amp; Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Molossidae, pp. 598-672 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions</i> on page 669, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6418279