Taphozous hilli, Kitchener, 1980

Bonaccorso, Frank, 2019, Emballonuridae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 350-373 : 355

13 . Hill’s Sheath-tailed Bat

Taphozous hilli

French: Taphien de Hill / German: Hill-Grabfledermaus / Spanish: Tafozo de Hill

Other common names: Hill's Tomb Bat, Slender-toothed Sheath-tailed Bat

Taxonomy. Taphozous hiUiVstchener, 1980 ,

“ 4-8 km 180° from Mt Bruce (29°39’03’S, 118°08’30”E), Hammersly Range National Park ..., disturbed from roof of test adit [= horizontal passage leading into a mine] at Marandoo minesite ,” Western Australia, Australia .

Taphozous hilli is in the subgenus Taphozous . Monotypic.

Distribution. Endemic to W & C Australia, occurs in semiarid Gibson Desert, Pilbara, and Murchison regions of Western Australia, Northern Territory, extreme NW Queensland, and South Australia; one specimen is known from an outlying area in the Great Sandy Desert.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 63-81 • 1 mm, tail 26-35 mm, ear 18-5-23-7 mm, hindfoot Ö-8-7-8 mm, forearm 63-72 mm; weight 20-25 g. There is no sexual dimorphism in body size. Dorsum of Hill’s Sheath-tailed Bat is rich brown, with strong yellowish-brown base, and becomes lighter brown on rump. Raw umber hairs cover area where tail passes dorsally through sheath membrane. Venter from head to chest is sepia, tipped with olivebrown, and posteriorly transitions to snuff brown, tipped dark yellow-brown. Uropatagium is raw umber and furred lightly in anal region. Propatagium is also sparsely haired and clay in color; plagiopatagium is lightly furred, with deep olive hairs along edges of upper arm and forearm. There are patches of dense buffy brown hairs at opening of radial-metacarpal pouches, and sparse buffy brown hairs cover ventral side of radial-metacarpal pouch. Skin of plagiopatagium, lips, fece, tragus, and ears are olive-brown. Skin of rhinarium is light brown. Anterior one-third of chin is bare, but posterior two-thirds is sparsely covered with olive-brown hair. Fur on forehead is not as dense as rest ofdorsum.

Habitat. Commonly arid woodlands, semiarid woodlands, and scrublands in rocky, hilly country and uncommonly sandy desert.

Food and Feeding. Hill’s Sheath-tailed Bats forage on insects while flying at fast speeds above and around trees.

Breeding. Seasonal enlargement ofthroat pouches ofbreeding male Hill’s Sheath-tailed Bats is correlated with enlargement of seminiferous tubules and accessory male glands. Females give birth to one young between early summer and mid-autumn (December- April). After parturition, female reproductive organs become quiescent until early winter. Males appear to be fertile throughout the year, but testes are scrotal in summer, inguinal in late autumn to winter, and abdominal mid-winter until late spring. Copulation appears to be restricted to briefperiods when females are in estrus beginning in August.

Activity patterns. Hill’s Sheath-tailed Bat emerges well after dark, and roosts exclusively in crevices, caves, and unused mines. It clings by all four limbs to vertical walls in twilight zones of caves and mines.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Roosting groups of Hill’s Sheathtailed Bats have up to 25 individuals. Hill’s Sheath-tailed Bats and Common Sheathtailed Bats (. georgianus ) frequently roost together where they co-occur.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Hill’s Sheath-tailed Bat has a large distribution and presumably large and stable overall population, and it is tolerant of a wide variety of habitats. Extensive mining operations in Western Australia actually appear to have caused distributional extension by creating roosting habitat when mines and adits are abandoned.

Bibliography. Chimimba & Kitchener (1991), Kitchener (1980), McKenzie &Thomson (2008), Reardon & Kitchener (2008), Strahan (1995).

Figures

On following pages: 4. Hamilton'sTomb Bat [Taphozous hamiltoni); 5. Hildegarde'sTomb Bat (Taphozous hildegardeae}; 6. Long-winged Sheath-tailed Bat (Taphozous longimanus); 7. Black-beardedTomb Bat (Taphozous melanopogoh); 8. Theobald'sTomb Bat (Taphozous theobaldi); 9. Indonesian Tomb Bat (Taphozous achates); 10. Arnhem Sheath-tailed Bat (Taphozous kapalgensis}; 11. Coastal Sheath-tailed Bat (Taphozous australis}; 12. Common Sheath-tailed Bat (Taphozous georgianus); 13. Hill's Sheath-tailed Bat (Taphozous hilli); 14. Troughton's Sheath-tailed Bat (Taphozous troughtoni); 15. Pel's Pouched Bat (Saccolaimus peli); 16. Bare-rumped Sheathtailed Bat (Saccolaimus saccolaimus); 17. Papuan Sheath-tailed Bat (Saccolaimus mixtus); 18. Yellow-bellied Sheath-tailed Bat (Saccolaimus flaviventris).

Distribution. Endemic to W & C Australia, occurs in semiarid Gibson Desert, Pilbara, and Murchison regions of Western Australia, Northern Territory, extreme NW Queensland, and South Australia; one specimen is known from an outlying area in the Great Sandy Desert.