Austronomus australis
Creators: name: Wilson, Don E.
name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Molossidae
Austronomus
Austronomus australis

description: 115. White-striped Free-tailed Bat <i>Austronomus australis</i> <b>French:</b> Tadaride australe / <b>German:</b> \Weil3streifen-Bulldogfledermaus / Spanish: Murciélago rabudo austral <b>Other common names:</b> \White-striped Mastiff Bat <b>Taxonomy.</b> Molossus australis J. E. Gray, 1838, “ New South Wales.” Austronomus australis was the first molossid bat to be described from Australia. Historic misunderstandings about the extent of variability of the white flank markings on individuals led, in 1884, to the description of a new species, “albidus’, by W. Leche, who was confused by G. E. Dobson’s incorrect statement in 1878 that females lacked the white flank markings and gular patch. O. Thomas in 1924 also described a new subspecies “atrata,” on the basis of a single melanistic specimen from Ooldea (South Australia) that lacked white markings. Neither albidus nor atrata is currently recognized as a distinct taxonomic entity, and instead they are considered representatives of natural color patterns within australis. Monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> Most of Australia except far tropical N and Tasmania. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head—body 85-100 mm,tail 40-55 mm, ear 23-28 mm, forearm 57- 65 mm; weight 26-48 g. The White-striped Free-tailed Bat is the largest of all Australian free-tailed bats,easily identified byits large size and very dark brown fur, usually with a distinct white stripe of fur along ventral wing line on each side of body; white patches are also commonly seen on other areas of chest, but rarely they are absent. Ears are rounded, and wings long and narrow. Superficially like the Greater Northern Freetailed Bat (Chaerephon jobensis), which also has rounded ears, but the White-striped Free-tailed Bat is much larger, with distinctive white markings. <b>Habitat.</b> The White-striped Free-tailed Bat has been found in most habitats across its range, from alpine areas to deserts and tropical environments. It inhabits forests, woodlands, savannas, grasslands, shrublands, agricultural lands, and urban landscapes, provided suitable large hollow-bearing trees are within flying distance. In Victoria,it has been recorded from sea level to elevations of 1400 m. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> White-striped Free-tailed Bats forage in open airspaces, either above the canopy or in treeless areas. Experiments using helium-filled balloons and radar in the South Eastern Highlands found that they dominate bat activity at 100 m aboveground and may fly well above 1500 m in altitude in search of high-flying moths and other invertebrates. The species may show clear preferences to forage in certain habitats, but these seem to vary across its range. In the Simpson Desert it shows a preference to forage over dune and swale habitats and near permanent water sources. In the urban area of Brisbane, Queensland, White-striped Free-tailed Bats preferred to forage over riverine and floodplain habitats; in rural parts of Victoria they showed no significant preference related to tree density, and foraged over all areas including paddocks. <b>Breeding.</b> Despite its vast range, encompassing many broad climatic zones, Whitestriped Free-tailed Bats have a surprisingly consistent breeding ecology. Females are monoestrous. Copulation, ovulation, and fertilization all take place in late August. Most females, including the previous year’s young, give birth to a single young from mid-December to late January, sometimes as late as February. Females gather in maternity colonies which may number several hundred individuals. Young are weaned by May. <b>Activity patterns.</b> The White-striped Free-tailed Bat is nocturnal, emerging after dark and often flying very rapidly—on average 44 km /h, but up to a maximum speed of over 60 km /h, within the first 30 minutes—to commute to suitable foraging areas. Once the species arrives at its preferred habitat, it slows its flight to an average of 7 km /h. When foraging,it tends to fly in generally straight lines or wide arcs scanning the area ahead and below and dropping down to capture prey. White-striped Free-tailed Bats roost primarily in large (old or dead) eucalypts, often occupying their hollow trunks. They do not hibernate. Echolocation call is of very low frequency and loud (c.11-13 kHz); it is readily audible to most humans from a considerable distance, and is a characteristic sound of summer nights throughout much of Australia. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> When not in maternity colonies, White-striped Free-tailed Bats generally roost alone or in small groups. They have been observed frequently flying more than 50 km from the roost to foraging area each night, but average distance is closer to 7 km. A study in the Brisbane region found that they have a complex social organization focused around a single shared colonial roost, with a network of connected smaller roosts spanning an area of 200 km ®. There is evidence to suggest that, in the northern part of the range, the species migrates north in the cooler months to utilize tropical areas that are unsuitable for it during the humid hot months. There has also been speculation in the southern part of its range that the species may migrate north during the southern winter, but conclusive evidence supporting this has not been provided and at least some individuals remain active. White-striped Free-tailed Bats are known to fly long distances over the ocean, and individuals were reported landing on a fishing boat 150 km off the West Australian coast, and flying across the Bass Strait to Tasmania at least occasionally. It is unclearif it is an occasional migrant orif the species is undergoing a southward expansion ofits range. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Least Concern on The [UCN Red List. The Whitestriped Free-tailed Bat has one of the broadest distributions of any Australian bat and a very large area of occupancy. It is known to occur in many protected areas. Population is likely to have declined due to habitat loss in parts ofits range, but is still believed to be very large. Since the 1970s, the species has frequently been reported being killed by wind turbines: the expansion of large-scale windpower generation in parts of the species’ range, particularly in south-eastern Australia, may pose risks to local populations. <b>Bibliography.</b> Adams et al. (1988), Allison (1989), Ammerman et al. (2012), Cawthen (2013, 2014), Dobson (1878), Dunlop &amp; Bullen (2011), Hill (1961), Iredale &amp; Troughton (1934), Jackson &amp; Groves (2015), Kitchener &amp; Hudson (1982), Leche (1884), Lumsden &amp; Bennett (2005), Mahoney &amp; Walton (1988), Mills &amp; Pennay (2018), Pennay &amp; Mills (2018), Rhodes (2006), Rhodes &amp; Wardell-Johnson (2006), Reardon et al. (2014), Thomas (1924b), Troughton (1926, 1941), Van Dyck et al. (2013), Williams &amp; Dickman (2004), Woinarski 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 pages 667-668, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6418279