South-western free-tailed bat
Ozimops kitcheneri, the south-western free-tailed bat, is a species of molossid bat found in Southwest Australia. A small flying mammal, it forages in forests and woodlands for insects.
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Among animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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starts withMormopterus kitcheneri has an "unusually flattened skull", similar to the southern species M. planiceps and M. petersi, the inland free-tailed bat. The fur is dark and long, the coloration at the upper side is grey-brown and slightly darker than the ventral side. The colour of bare skin is grey or pinkish. It is a small species, with a forearm length of 32.6 to 35.4 millimetres and a body mass of 7.5 to 10.5 grams.
The species is only recorded in Western Australia, at regions in the southwest of the continent. The habitat is dry sclerophyll forest or heath, and Mallee woodland. They occur in many areas of the semi-arid wheatbelt, partly overlapping in range with the inland species Ozimops petersi.
The area of occupancy has not been determined, but reasonable assumed to have been greatly reduced by the extensive removal of habitat during the British colonisation of Southwest Australia. The population trends or trajectory are largely unknown due to the absence of historical data. The species is recorded at remnant bushland and roosting in urban structures, and regularly appears in surveys within its distribution range.
It is an endemic species of Australia. It is nocturnal, roosting in sheltered places during the day such as hollow trees and human structures. It forages for its insect prey in uncluttered air spaces, open or semi-open woodlands; the climate of the recorded locations is mesic or semiarid habitat. The species was recorded in sympatry with Mormopterus petersi at the Coolgardie and Avon regions.
Ozimops kitcheneri, like the species Austronomus australis, forages above the canopy of forest and woodland.
As of 2020, it is assessed as a least-concern species by the IUCN. It meets the criteria for this classification because it has a wide geographic range, it tolerates a variety of habitats, its range includes protected areas, and it is frequently documented. Its population size is estimated at 35,000 individuals, which is likely an underestimation.
