Table of Contents
Overview
Brief Summary
Biology
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Comprehensive Description
Description
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Distribution
Range Description
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Geographic Range
M. tuberculata lives only on New Zealand and the islands immediately adjacent to it. These islands include North Island, South Island, Little Barrier Island, and several smaller islands off of Stewart Island. (Macdonald, 1984; Nowak, 1994)
Biogeographic Regions: australian (Native )
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Range
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Physical Description
Morphology
Physical Description
The forearm length for M. tuberculata ranges in length from 40 to 45 mm. They are small bats, reaching head-body lengths of 6 to 8 cm. M. tuberculata has thick fur, actually thicker than that found on other species of bats. The upper portion of its body is gray brown, while the underparts are paler. The claws are needle sharp. The wings are unique in their thick and leathery membranes, and because they can be rolled under when the bat is not flying, enabling it to use its arms as forelegs when on the ground. The first phalanx of each digit folds to the outer side of the metacarpal when the wing is folded, unlike in other species of bat, in which the phalanx folds in. The thumb is also unique in that it has a large claw with a small talon projecting from it, a feature lacking in other microchiropterans. The claws of the feet also display talons. The tail perforates the dorsal surface of the tail membrane, which is thick and wrinkled at the base of the tail. M. tuberculata have an obliquely truncated muzzle, primitive nostril patterns, and a scattering of stiff bristles with spoon-shaped tips on their snout. The nostrils are oblong and vertical. The ears have a long, pointed tragus. The feet are short and broad and the sole of the foot has a grooved covering, as do the short, thick legs. A well developed calcar is present. The cheekteeth are tritubercular, and the upper molars are very well developed. M. tuberculata do not have a postorbital process. The tongue is partly extensible, with papillae at its tip. (Nowak, 1994; Macdonald, 1984; Lawlor,1979)
Average mass: 23.5 g.
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Ecology
Habitat
Habitat and Ecology
It is primarily insectivorous but also comsumes nectar, pollen, and fruit (Lloyd 2005). Lesser short-tailed bats undergo periods of torpor and seasonal hibernation (Lloyd 2005). The species is thought to undertake a lek mating system, but this has yet to be proven (C. O'Donnell pers. comm.). Females annually give birth to a single young (Lloyd 2001, 2005).
Systems
- Terrestrial
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Habitat
These bats mostly live in the forests of New Zealand and its neighboring islands. (Nowak, 1994)
Terrestrial Biomes: forest
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Habitat
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Trophic Strategy
Food Habits
M. tuberculata are omnivorous, eating fruit, nectar, and pollen, as well as insects and other arthropods, and they have been seen to dine on carrion. (Macdonald,1984; Stoddart, 1979)
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Life History and Behavior
Life Expectancy
Lifespan/Longevity
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 7.6 years.
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Lifespan, longevity, and ageing
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Reproduction
Reproduction
M. tuberculata are polyestrous. Births occur at any time, with the single young being born between spring and autumn. (Nowak,1994)
Average birth mass: 3.2 g.
Average number of offspring: 1.
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Molecular Biology and Genetics
Molecular Biology
Barcode data: Mystacina tuberculata
There is 1 barcode sequence available from BOLD and GenBank. Below is the sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species. See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen. Other sequences that do not yet meet barcode criteria may also be available.
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Download FASTA File
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Statistics of barcoding coverage: Mystacina tuberculata
Public Records: 1
Species: 1
Species With Barcodes: 1
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Conservation
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List Assessment
Red List Category
Red List Criteria
Version
Year Assessed
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Justification
History
- 1996Vulnerable
- 1994Vulnerable(Groombridge 1994)
- 1990Vulnerable(IUCN 1990)
- 1988Vulnerable(IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)
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Conservation Status
The IUNC regards M. tuberculata ans vulnerable. It is thought that this species declined through destruction of forest habitat, predation by introduced rats and other non-native mammals, accidental poisoning, and human disturbance of roosts. (Nowak, 1994)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: vulnerable
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Status
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Trends
Population
The geographic ranges of the colonies are c.150 km2 a piece, and only about a dozen subpopulations are known (O'Donnell et al. 1999; Christie 2003; Lloyd 2005). Within these, the range of the 'irreplaceable colonial breeding sites' are much smaller (17 ha in one study; Christie 2003). Colonial breeding trees per colony number only 20-30 and they have very specific physical and microhabitat charcteristics, which are now very rare in New Zealand forests because of the history of logging (Sedgeley 2003, 2006).
The central North Island populations are large, but they are fragmented and we have little understanding of current trends there. Two of the three subpopulations that are being studied continue to decline (i.e., Oparara and Tararua). In fact, the Oparara bats (only 1 of 2 subpopulations in South Island) have not been detected for a few years now, despite considerable survey effort.
Population Trend
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Threats
Threats
Predation by introduced stoats and rats has also been, and continues to be, a major threat to this species. This is evident from the increase in bats on Codfish Island following the removal of Pacific rats, as well as increases in the Eglinton Valley following the initiation of comprehensive rat and stoat control. Stoats and rats are also known to visit colonial roosts, and are suspected as the reason for the critical status of the Tararua, Oparara, and Northland subpopulations in areas where no logging has occurred. Furthermore, these bats disappeared from the southern Titi Islands when ship rats were introduced.
Populations of this species also appear to be minimally impacted by poisoning through consumption of bait distributed in New Zealand forests to control invasive vertebrate species, and also through secondary poisoning resulting from consumption of invertebrates that have fed on poisoned bait (Lloyd 2005).
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Threats
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Management
Conservation Actions
There are three subspecies and five evolutionary significant units (ESUs) recognised by the New Zealand Bat Recovery Group and the New Zealand Department of Conservation (Lloyd 2003a,b). The national (non-IUCN) listings for these populations are as follows (Hitchmough et al. 2007):
Northern lesser short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata aupourica, nationally endangered
Eastern lesser short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata rhyacobia, at risk
North-western lesser short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata rhyacobia, at risk
Southern North Island lesser short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata tuberculata, nationally critical
South Island lesser short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata tuberculata, nationally endangered
Fortunately, the population of Mystacina tuberculata rhyacobia on the central North Island is much bigger than originally thought. Other populations, however, cannot be considered secure such as northern and southern subspecies (C. O'Donnell pers. comm.).
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Conservation
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Wikipedia
New Zealand Lesser Short-tailed Bat
The Lesser Short-tailed Bat, Mystacina tuberculata or Pekapeka-tou-poto in Māori, is one of only two species of short-tailed bats in the family Mystacinidae, which is endemic to New Zealand.
It is divided into three sub-species:
- the Kauri Forest Short-tailed Bat, found only at two sites in Northland and one on Little Barrier Island.
- the Volcanic Plateau Short-tailed Bat, known from Northland, the central North Island and Taranaki.
- the Southern Short-tailed Bat, Mystacina tuberculata tuberculata found on Codfish Island and in the northwest Nelson and Fiordland areas.
A colony of around 300 Short-tailed Bats was also found in the Waiohine Valley of the Tararua Forest Park in the late 1990s. The only known population of Short-tailed Bats in the southern North Island, it is thought they are related to both the volcanic plateau and the Southern Short-tailed Bats. They became isolated during a glacial period in the centre of the North Island, and through volcanic activity, more than 90,000 years ago. Pups from this unique and isolated colony, born in captivity, have been transferred to Kapiti Island in an attempt to establish an insurance population in a predator-free environment.
The Lesser Short-tailed Bat is listed by the New Zealand Department of Conservation as a "species of highest conservation priority". It is the sole host of the New Zealand batfly, which lives in a symbiotic relationship with it.
- Short-tailed Bats weigh 12 to 15 grams, have large pointed ears, a free tail and are a mousy-grey colour.
- Unlike most bats, which catch their prey in the air, the Short-tailed Bat has adapted to ground hunting and is one of the few bats in the world which spends large amounts of time on the forest floor, using its folded wings as "front limbs" for scrambling around.
- Short-tailed Bats are found in indigenous forests where they roost, singly or communally, in hollow trees. The bats go into a "torpor" in cold weather and stay in their roosts. They wake up as soon as the weather becomes warmer.
- Short-tailed bats consume spores of true ferns[1] among other sources of food.
- Thought to be a lek breeder, i.e. males compete for traditional "singing" posts and "sing" for a female.
- Its diet consists of insects, fruit, nectar and pollen and it is thought to be an important pollinator of the wood rose (Dactylanthus taylorii), a threatened parasitic plant which grows on the roots of trees on the forest floor.
References
- ^ C.Michael Hogan. 2010
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