From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ghost Bat
Ghost Bat at Perth Zoo
Conservation status
Vulnerable
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Chiroptera Family: Megadermatidae Genus: Macroderma Species: M. gigas
Binomial name
Macroderma gigas (Dobson, 1880)

The Ghost Bat (Macroderma gigas) is a bat endemic to Australia that gets its name from the extremely thin skin on its wings that makes it appear ghostly at night. This is mostly a grey bat, with grey fur on its back and pale grey fur on its underside. The Ghost Bat has long, narrow wings and no tail; and has an average length of 11 cm, although females are smaller than the males.

The Ghost Bat roosts in caves, mines, and tunnels in large numbers. Largely insectivorous but will also consume frogs, lizards and other small animals including other bats. It uses its large eyes as well as echolocation to find prey. Once found, it swoops down and grasps the prey with its wings, killing it with its powerful bite. The Ghost Bat is the only carnivorous bat in Australia and is also the largest microbat species in the world. This species is considered to be vulnerable in the wild from destruction of caves for mining purposes and loss of habitat due to land cleared for agricultural use; cave tourism has also been identified as a lesser factor. It inhabits northern Australia from the east to the west coast. There are about 4000 to 6000 in the wild. Females give birth to one young in September or November once every year. Bat Conservation International has created national parks and reserves around northern Australia to try and increase the species population.^{[citation needed]} They have also created special breeding programs and have been attempting to clone species of bats overseas.^{[citation needed]}

• Ghost Bat
• IUCN Red List Species Information
• Wild Kids

• Extreme Science: Chasing the Ghost Bat and other Mysteries of Nature, Peter Jedickle (Editor), Griffin Trade, 2001
• Bats, The Amazing Upside-downers, Phyllis J. Perry Franklin Watts/Grolier Publishing, 1998

This article about a bat is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.