Ghost Bat
Click to enlarge image
© Australian Museum
Fast Facts
-
Classification
- Genus
- Macroderma
- Species
- gigas
- Family
- Megadermatidae
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Subclass
- Eutheria
- Subphylum
- Vertebrata
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Kingdom
- Animalia
Introduction
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.
A Ghost Bat is pictured against a reddish rock surface. Its black wings are almost completely closed, but the pinkish and white areas of the wing are visible. Its face has a noticeable creamy white area, giving the bat its ghost-like appearance. Its grey fur is patched with white fur.
Image: R & A Williams© Australian Museum
Distribution
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.
