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MammalingSpecies accountsBats › Hipposideridae

Northern Roundleaf Bat

Hipposideros stenotis
VU · Vulnerable Chiroptera Hipposideridae
Activity
Nocturnal

Description

A leaf-nosed bat endemic to northern Australia that flies with a slow, fluttering wingbeat, though capable of changing direction rapidly when pursuing prey.

How to identify it

Long greyish-brown fur and a complex nasal structure characteristic of the genus; its slow, fluttering flight distinguishes it in the air from faster insectivorous bats in its range.

Signs and tracks

The Northern Roundleaf Bat roosts in caves, sandstone cliff crevices and abandoned mines; it remains unclear whether it forms colonies or roosts individually.

Habitat and range

Sandstone escarpments of northern Australia.

Diet

Insectivorous; hunts in slow, highly manoeuvrable flight using echolocation.

Behaviour

It flies with a slow, almost butterfly-like wingbeat, but can change direction quickly when pursuing prey; it roosts in caves, rock crevices and sandstone mines.

Conservation

Population declining due to the degradation of its sandstone escarpment habitat in northern Australia; considered vulnerable.

Threats

Altered fire regimes, and degradation of the sandstone habitat on which it depends.

Other accounts in Hipposideridae

See all species accounts for bats · Full species index

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