''Ozimops petersi'', the inland free-tailed bat is a species of bat found in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is notable for being able to tolerate the most extreme body temperature range of any known mammal.

Taxonomy

It was initially described in 1884 by Swedish zoologist Dr. Wilhelm Leche. Leche had acquired a collection of specimens from Gustav Schneider, a Swiss natural history dealer, and used to describe a new species that was distinguishable from the rest of the series. In 1906,

Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for ...

published a paper in which he considered ''N. petersi'' as

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

with an earlier description of species ''Mormopterus planiceps'' ('' Ozimops planiceps'', in part). This status was largely maintained until 2014, although greater diversity had previously been identified, when a study examining the

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

and

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

of the bats of Australia showed that it was distinct enough to be considered a full species. This description removed the name from a synonymy of ''M. planiceps'', publishing a subgeneric arrangement ''Mormopterus'' (''Ozimops'') ''petersi'' before that was elevated to genus ''

Ozimops ''Ozimops'' is a genus of molossid bats found in Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Description ''Ozimops'' are small and stout microbats, with forearm measurement ranging from 29 to 41 millimetres and weigh from 6 to 18 grams. The ea ...

''. Leche initially placed it in the now defunct genus ''Nyctinomus'' with the

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''petersi''.

Description

In describing the species, Leche noted that it is similar in appearance to the

east-coast free-tailed bat ''Micronomus norfolkensis'' is a species of molossid bat, a family of flying mammals. The bat is endemic to Australia, where it occurs from southeastern Queensland to eastern New South Wales. They are the sole species of genus ''Micronomus'' an ...

, ''Mormopterus norfolkensis''. He wrote that it differs in its flat, compressed skull. It is a small species of bat, with a head and body length of , a tail length of , and a forearm length of . The tail extends approximately past the edge of the

uropatagium The patagium (: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flying. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, theropod dinosaurs (including b ...

. Its tragus is tiny, at only long. It weighs .

Biology

''Ozimops petersi'' is

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

species, roosting in sheltered places during the day such as tree cavities or under metal roofs. Females have one

breeding season Seasonal breeders are animal species that successfully mate only during certain times of the year. These times of year allow for the optimization of survival of young due to factors such as ambient temperature, food and water availability, and ch ...

annually, and give birth in November or December. The litter size is generally one individual, with the young called a "pup."

Body temperature toleration

This species of bat can tolerate the most extreme range of body temperatures of any known mammal. Its body temperature has been recorded as low as and as high as . This upper limit even exceeds recorded maximum body temperatures of

camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

s. These bats can survive these otherwise lethal extremes by using

torpor Torpor is a state of decreased physiological activity in an animal, usually marked by a reduced body temperature and metabolic rate. Torpor enables animals to survive periods of reduced food availability. The term "torpor" can refer to the ti ...

, which is a physiological adaptation.

Conservation

As of 2020, it is listed as

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

—its lowest conservation priority. It meets the criteria for this assessment because it has a large geographic range; it tolerates a variety of habitats; its population size is thought to be large; and it is documented regularly throughout its range. Its population may exceed one million individuals, although this number may be declining.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18419330 Mammals described in 1884 Bats of Australia Ozimops