New Zealand Greater Short-tailed Bat

The bat

Morphologically, M. Robusta is larger than M. Tuberculata with specimens of the former having a mean forearm length of 45.3-47.5mm as opposed to the latter, 40-45mm, that also has larger ears that reach beyond the muzzle when pushed forward. It is described as having a wingspan of 300mm and a body length of 90mm.

Range and habitat

There are no records of this species from the North Island and South Island since the arrival of Europeans and it was probably restricted to several islands near Stewart island/Rakiura by this time. The only records from the twentieth century are from caves on Taukihepa/Big South Cape Island and Rerewhakaupoko/Solomon Island. In prehistoric times it lived in the North and South Islands but by the time of European arrival was restricted to small islands near Stewart Island / Rakiura.

A rat invasion of Taukihepa/Big South Cape Island in 1963 was thought to have led to the species' extinction, even so, recent surveys have raised hopes that the species may still exist. The last refuge of this species was Taukihepa/Big South Cape Island until ship rats (Rattus rattus) were accidentally introduced in 1963.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

In crisis

Larger than the New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat, there have been no confirmed sightings of this species since 1965 and it is considered to be critically endangered, if not extinct. This rodent invasion decimated the bird life of the island, leading to the extinction of Stead's bush wren (Xenicus longipes variabilis) and South Island snipe (Coenocorypha iredalei). The South Island saddleback (Philesturnus carunculatus) was only saved by the translocation of 36 individuals to a nearby island.

M. Robusta, not recognized as a separate species at the time, was not considered a priority for conservation effort and was believed to have subsequently become extinct, last seen in 1965. As a result of this evidence the IUCN status of the species, formerly listed as extinct, has been changed to 'critically endangered' and the New Zealand threat classification is currently 'data deficient'.

New Zealand Greater Short-tailed Bat is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on New Zealand Greater Short-tailed Bat, Wikidata item Q1066491. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.