Gould's Long-eared Bat, Nyctophilus gouldi, was named after the English Naturalist, JohnGould. Their ears are relatively long, compared with other genus of bats.

Gould's Long-eared Bat is a small insectivorous bat, which uses echo-location to find its way in the dark. They are very fast and agile, able to catch moths and other insects in flight.

Identifying characteristics of Gould’s Long-eared Bat are a subtle Y-shaped groove behind the simple nose-leaf, membrane joining the ears, and grey or grey-brown fur, with mottled ventral fur (Parnaby, 1999).

They typically have a 35-46 mm long forearm.

Gould’s Long-eared Bats may live in communal roosts of upto 20 bats. They often chose to live in abandoned birds nests (Catchpole, 2007), and have a preference for trees in gullies with a diameter over 80cm, where they roost in hollow limbs, trunks, or under peeling bark (Lunney, Barker, Priddel, & Oconnell). The Angophora floribunda would be a most likely habitat tree at Mandeni.

Gould’s Long-eared Bats were captured in a Harp Trap at Mandeni, indicating that they inhabit the very moist forest/wetlands occurring on the lower slopes.

Photos of Gould’s Long-eared Bats being handled by wildlife ecologist Gary Luck, at Mt. Lawson, by T. Hastings (8/10/2007).

Photo of Gould’s Long-eared Bat flying by T Reardon, from ABC Science:

References

Catchpole, H., (2007), Bright Little Microbats, ABC Science.

Lunney, D., Barker, J., Priddel, D., & Oconnell, M. (1988) Roost Selection by Goulds Long-Eared Bat, Nyctophilus-Gouldi Tomes (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae), in Logged Forest on the South Coast of New South-Wales. Wildlife Research, 15(4), 375-384.

Parnaby, H. (1999). An Interitn Guide to Identification of Insectivorous Bats of South-eastern Australia, available from the Australian Museum.