The Pacific sheath-tailed bat or Polynesian sheath-tailed bat (''Emballonura semicaudata'') is a species of

sac-winged bat Emballonuridae is a family (biology), family of microbats, many of which are referred to as sac-winged or sheath-tailed bats. They are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. The earliest fossil records are from ...

in the family Emballonuridae found in

American Samoa American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. Centered on , it is southeast of the island count ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

(where it is called ''pe'a vai, tagiti'' or ''pe'ape'a vai''),

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

, and

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

. Its natural habitat is caves. In 2013, Bat Conservation International listed this species as one of the 35 species on its worldwide priority list for conservation. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. There are estimated to be approximately 500 individuals of the subspecies ''E. s. rotensis''. Currently known to roost in only three caves, ''E. s. rotensis'' is vulnerable to changes in the local habitat, including indirect impacts caused by invasive species such as goats which limit its

carrying capacity The carrying capacity of an ecosystem is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available. The carrying capacity is defined as the ...

References

Emballonura Bats of Oceania Fauna of Micronesia Mammals of American Samoa Mammals of Fiji Fauna of Guam Fauna of Palau Mammals of Samoa Mammals of Tonga Mammals of Vanuatu Mammals described in 1848 Endangered fauna of Oceania Taxonomy articles created by Polbot ESA endangered species Taxa named by Titian Peale {{Emballonuridae-stub