Species Macroderma gigas (Dobson, 1880)
Ghost Bat
- Megaderma gigas Dobson, G.E. 1880. On some new or rare species of Chiroptera in the collection of the Göttingen Museum. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1880: 461-465 pl. 46 [publication date established from Duncan, F.M. 1937. On the dates of publication of the Society's 'Proceedings', 1859–1926. With an appendix containing the dates of publication of 'Proceedings', 1830–1858, compiled by the late F.H. Waterhouse, and of the 'Transactions', 1853–1869, by the late Henry Peavot, originally published in P.Z.S. 1893, 1913. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 107: 71–84 [73]] [461].
Type data:
Holotype ZFMK 78.525 ♂ skin (wet) & skull (transferred from the Göttingen Museum to ZFMK Bonn in 1978, see Hutterer, R. 1984. Die Wirbeltiersammlungen des Museums Alexander Koenig Museum. I. Säugetiere. Bonn. Zool. Monogr. 19: 9–48 [29]), 'Mount Margaret', Wilson River, QLD.Type locality references:
Nelson, J. 1989. Where is the type locality of Macroderma gigas? Macroderma 4: 70-72. - Macroderma gigas saturata Douglas, A.M. 1962. Macroderma gigas saturata (Chiroptera, Megadermatidae) a new subspecies from the Kimberley Division of Western Australia. Western Australian Naturalist 8: 59-61 [60].
Type data:
Holotype WAM M4416 ♀ skin (wet) & skull, cave at Kalumburu, Northwest Kimberley Division, WA.
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- Mahoney, J.A. in Walton, D.W. (ed.) 1988. Zoological Catalogue of Australia Volume 5. Mammalia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service x 274 pp. [Date published 13/Apr/1988] [119] (based on Koopman, K.F. 1984. Taxonomic and distributional notes on tropical Australian bats. American Museum Novitates 2778: 1–48 [7])
Generic Combinations
- Macroderma gigas (Dobson, 1880). —
Miller, G.S. 1906. Twelve new genera of bats. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 19: 83-85 [84] (new combination as type species of the genus Macroderma)
Distribution
States
Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
"… patchy and widespread …" van Dyck & Strahan (2008: 449)
Australian Endemic.
IBRA
NT, Qld, SA, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Gawler (GAW), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Jarrah Forest (JF), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Northern Kimberley (NK), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)
Ecological Descriptors
Carnivorous, cave dweller, closed forest, desert, gregarious, low open woodland, open forest, predator, tussock grassland.
Extra Ecological Information
Also roosts in mines and deep fissures, preys on vertebrates, captures some prey on ground.
General References
Churchill, S.K. & Helman, P.M. 1990. Distribution of the ghost bat, Macroderma gigas (Chiroptera: Megadermatidae) in central South Australia. Australian Mammalogy 13: 149-157
Douglas, A.M. 1967. The natural history of the Ghost Bat, Macroderma gigas (Microchiroptera, Megadermatidae) in Western Australia. Western Australian Naturalist 10: 125-138
Fairfax, R.A. 1982. Notes on the ghost bat Macroderma gigas in captivity. 175 in Evans, D.D. (ed.). The Management of Australian Mammals in Captivity. Proceedings of the Scientific Meeting of the Australian Mammal Society, Healesville, Victoria, February 1979. Melbourne : Zoological Board of Victoria 194 pp.
Filewood, L.W. 1983. The possible occurrence in New Guinea of the Ghost Bat (Macroderma gigas; Chiroptera, Megadermatidae). Australian Mammalogy 6: 35-36
Friend, G.R. & Braithwaite, R.W. 1986. Bat fauna of Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory. Australian Mammalogy 9: 43-52
Guppy, A., Coles, R.B. & Pettigrew, J.D. 1985. Echolocation and acoustic communication in the Australian ghost bat, Macroderma gigas (Microchiroptera: Megadermatidae). Australian Mammalogy 8: 299-308
Guppy, A. & Coles, R.B. 1983. Feeding behaviour of the Australian Ghost Bat, Macroderma gigas (Chiroptera: Megadermatidae) in captivity. Australian Mammalogy 6: 97-99
Guppy, A. & Coles, R.B. 1988. Acoustical and neural aspects of hearing in the Australian gleaning bats, Macroderma gigas and Nyctophilus gouldi. Journal of Comparative Physiology. A. Sensory, Neural and Behavioral Physiology 162: 653-668
Hand, S. & York, A. 1990. Morphological variation in the dentition and skull of the Australian ghost bat, Macroderma gigas (Microchiroptera: Megadermatidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 38: 263-286
Hudson, W.S. & Wilson, D.E. 1986. Macroderma gigas. Mammalian Species No 260. 1-4 pp.
Koopman, K.F. 1984. Taxonomic and distributional notes on tropical Australian bats. American Museum Novitates 2778: 1-48
Kulzer, E., Nelson, J.E., McKean, J.L. & Moehres, F.P. 1984. Prey-catching behaviour and echolocation in the Australian Ghost Bat, Macroderma gigas (Microchiroptera: Megadermatidae). Australian Mammalogy 7: 37-50
Leitner, P. & Nelson, J.E. 1967. Body temperature, oxygen consumption and heart rate in the Australian False Vampire Bat, Macroderma gigas. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 21: 65-74
Molnar, R.E., Hall, L.S. & Mahoney, J.A. 1984. New fossil localities for Macroderma Miller, 1906 (Chiroptera: Megadermatidae) in New South Wales and its past and present distribution in Australia. Australian Mammalogy 7: 63-73
Pettigrew, J., Baker, G.B., Baker-Gabb, D. et al. 1986. The Australian ghost bat, Macroderma gigas, at Pine Creek, Northern Territory. Macroderma 2: 8-19
Pirlot, P. & Nelson, J. 1980. Quantitative aspects of brain morphology in Macroderma gigas (Megadermatidae, Chiroptera). Australian Mammalogy 3: 105-108
Richards, G.C. & Hand, S. 1995. Ghost Bat Macroderma gigas. pp. 446-447 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 pp.
Schulz, M. 1986. Vertebrate prey of the Ghost Bat, Macroderma gigas, at Pine Creek, Northern Territory. Macroderma 2: 59-62
Tidemann, C.R., Priddel, D.M., Nelson, J.E. & Pettigrew, J.D. 1985. Foraging behaviour of the Australian ghost bat, Macroderma gigas (Microchiroptera: Megadermatidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 33: 705-713
Wise, L.Z., Pettigrew, J.D. & Calford, M.B. 1986. Somatosensory cortical representation in the Australian ghost bat, Macroderma gigas. Journal of Comparative Neurology 248: 257-262
Worthington Wilmer, J., Hall, L., Barratt, E. & Moritz, C. 1999. Genetic structure and male mediated gene flow in the ghost bat (Macroderma gigas). Evolution 53: 1582-1591
Common Name References
ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Ghost Bat)
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
12-Dec-2022 | CHIROPTERA | 12-Dec-2022 | MOVED | |
04-Dec-2018 | 18-Nov-2010 | MOVED | ||
12-Feb-2010 | (import) |