Wollaston's roundleaf bat


Wollaston's roundleaf bat is a species of bat in the family Hipposideridae. It is found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It was named after the explorer Sandy Wollaston.

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described as a new species in 1913 by British zoologist Oldfield Thomas.
The eponym for the species name "wollastoni" is A. F. R. Wollaston.
The holotype used to describe this species was collected during one of Wollaston's expeditions to New Guinea.

Description

In his initial description of the species, Thomas noted that it was similar in appearance to the Fly River roundleaf bat, Hipposideros muscinus.
It differs from the Fly River roundleaf bat in that its posterior nose-leaf has a "peculiar duplication" behind it.
Its forearm length is approximately long.
Its head and body is, while its tail is long.
Its ears are long and wide.

Range and habitat

This species is only known from the island of New Guinea, in both Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
It has been documented from above sea level.
It has been found int montane forests, oak forests, and secondary forests.

Conservation

It is currently evaluated as least concern by the IUCN—its lowest conservation priority.
It meets the criteria for this assessment because it has a large range, it is found in a variety of habitats, its population is presumably large, and there is no evidence of a rapid decline in population or range.