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ANIMAL SPECIES:Ghost Bat

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Ghost Bats use their large eyes as well as echolocation to find prey.

Habitat

Ghost Bat roost in caves, old mine tunnels and in deep cracks in rocks. They usually roost in colonies, but because many of their roosting sites are being destroyed it is rare to find large colonies.

Behaviour and adaptations

Feeding and Diet

Ghost Bats are Australia's only carnivorous bats, preying on large insects, frogs, birds, lizards and small mammals including other bats. They swoop on their prey killing with powerful bites, then fly to a feeding site to eat.

Conservation Status

Ghost Bats are vulnerable to disturbance from human visitors to cave roosts, destruction of caves by mining, and loss of feeding habitat by clearing and land degradation from agriculture.

Classification

Species:
gigas
Genus:
Macroderma
Family:
Megadermatidae
Order:
Chiroptera
Subclass:
Eutheria
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Phylum:
Chordata
Kingdom:
Animalia

What does this mean?


Last Updated: 23 December 2009

3 comments

Ondine Evans STAFF

Ondine Evans
9.06 AM, 24 June 2009

Yes, the fact sheets are for a more general audience, but we hope that all ages will find both the fact sheets and the Wild Kids pages good sources of information. Wherever possible, we have linked the Wild Kids pages back to a fact sheet.

Ondine Evans STAFF

Ondine Evans
11.06 AM, 18 June 2009

Yes, we certainly agree that currently this fact sheet is very brief! However, we plan to update all the Bat fact sheets with more information - we brought them across from an old site called 'Bats in Australia'. The other page you refer to is a 'Wild Kids' page aimed at a particular age group, so is formatted differently. Thanks for your feedback.

Paul Pledger

pledge
6.06 PM, 17 June 2009

The information provided is very brief. Also, there is another page with information: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Ghost-Bats/ Why not incorporate to include on just one page?

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Ghost Bat

Ghost Bat View full size
BG Thompson © Australian Museum

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