Ozimops ridei, Felten, 1964

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Molossidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 598-672 : 671-672

126.

Ride’s Free-tailed Bat

Ozimops ridei

French: Tadaride de Ride / German: Ride-Bulldogfledermaus / Spanish: Murciélago rabudo de Ride

Other common names: Eastern Free-tailed Bat, Eastern Little Free-tailed Bat, Eastern Mastiff Bat

Taxonomy. Tadarida loriae ridei Felten, 1964 ,

Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

Ozimops rider has variously been included within O. loriae or O. planiceps , sometimes as a subspecies. The taxon was informally recognized as “species 2” by M. Adams and colleagues in 1988, and subsequently formalized by T. B. Reardon and colleagues in 2014, who placed it in the Mormopterus subgenus Ozimops . Ozimops was then elevated to genus level by S. M. Jackson and C. P. Groves in 2015. Genetic analysis by Reardon and colleagues in 2014 revealed two distinct mtDNA clades approaching species-level difference (3-1%); the clades conform to a north-south geographic split, with the change occurring abruptly within a 45-km area around Gympie in south-east Queensland. Monotypic.

Distribution. Almost all E Australia from Cape Melville, N of Cooktown, to S Victoria, generally following areas with more than 500 mm of rainfall along coastal side of Great Dividing Range but also extending to W slope in S Queensland and New South Wales; in far S of its range it extends far inland along Murray River and major tributaries into South Australia, but is restricted in proximity to riverine and floodplain areas and is usually not found venturing far into surrounding semiarid environments.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 50-60 mm, tail 28-34 mm, ear 8-15 mm, forearm 30- 35 mm; weight 5-11 g. Ride’s Free-tailed Bat is is variable in color across its broad range, but generally has brownish gray fur,slightly paler below. In males, penis is ¢. 4 mm long, which differentiates it from the otherwise almost identical Southern Free-tailed Bat ( O. planiceps ), which has a much longer penis (usually ¢. 9 mm or longer). Glans penis is short, cylindrical, and tapered at tip, with dorsal glans body contiguous with bacular mound, and glans body covered in small epithelial spines. This species is smaller than Lumsden’s Free-tailed Bat ( O. lumsdenae ) and Cape York Free-tailed Bat (O. hall); it is more robust and lacks the genital projections of both East Coast Free-tailed Bat ( Micronomus norfolkensis ) and Hairy-nosed Free-tailed Bat ( Setirostris eleryz). Skull is relatively small and shorter than in the Southern Free-tailed Bat and the Inland Free-tailed Bat (O. peters). The species can be distinguished from other Ozimops by having a unique combination of allozyme alleles with number of fixed differences ranging from three to ten.

Habitat. Ride’s Free-tailed Bat inhabits a huge range of habitats including rainforest, monsoon forest, Melaleuca (Myrtaceae) forest, eucalypt forest and woodland, and river red gum forest. In the south-west ofits range, it shows a strong preference to forage in riparian areas. It also uses rural and semi-rural areas, where remnant vegetation is present, but unlike the Southern Free-tailed Bat it avoids urban areas where housing density exceeds c.10 dwellings per hectare.

Food and Feeding. Ride’s Free-tailed Bats forage at ¢. 9-10 m aboveground, in the spaces between trees, or in open areas and forest gaps with little vegetation. In rural areas of northern Victoria, Ride’s Free-tailed Bats were found to consume mainly bugs and smaller quantities of beetles, flies, moths, and occasionally spiders.

Breeding. Information regarding breeding behavior is scant and gathered from fieldcapture data. Heavily pregnant or lactating females have been caught from late November to mid-December, and it is presumed they give birth during this period to a single young. Young are suckled until mid-late January and commence flight during this time.

Activity patterns. Ride’s Free-tailed Bat is nocturnal and emerges after dark. The species roosts by day in tree hollows or cracks, and sometimes under bark. It occasionally roosts in buildings and very rarely uses artificial “bat box” roosts.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Ride’s Free-tailed Bats roost communally, sometimes with hundreds of individuals, but more typically in smaller groups of c.15 bats. They sometimes share roosts with other species including the Eastern Broad-nosed Bat ( Scotorepens orion ) and Gould’s Wattled Bat ( Chalinolobus gouldii ). Longevity in the wild is unknown, but two Ride’s Free-tailed Bats captured as adults survived 23 years in captivity.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List (as Mormopterus rider ). Ride’s Free-tailed Bat probably has a large population, as it is readily captured over a very large range (c. 1,500,000 km?), and uses a broad range of habitats. Although it is tolerant of some loss of habitat and can use areas with remnant vegetation and roost in anthropogenic structures, it appears to avoid urban and heavily cleared areas. Population is likely to have undergone a significant reduction due to loss of natural roosting and foraging habitat in well over half of its range since colonial settlement of the Australian east coast from the mid-1800s. Habitat loss due to land clearing and urban expansion is continuing, but insufficient population data and a history of taxonomic confusion make it difficult to assess its conservation status accurately.

Bibliography. Adams et al. (1988), Caryl et al. (2016), Griffiths et al. (2017), Hoye, Law & Lumsden (2008), Jackson & Groves (2015), Lumsden (2012), McConville (2013), Reardon et al. (2014), Reside & Lumsden (2011).

Figures

On following pages: 105. Roberts's Flat-headed Bat (Sauromys petrophilus); 106. Brazilian Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis); 107. European Free-tailed Bat (7adarida teniotis); 108. Egyptian Free-tailed Bat (7adarida aegyptiaca); 109. Kenyan Big-eared Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida lobata); 110. African Giant Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida ventralis); 111. Malagasy Free-tailed Bat (7adarida fulminans); 112. East Asian Free-tailed Bat (7adarida insignis); 113. La Touche's Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida latouchei); 114. New Guinea Free-tailed Bat (Austronomus kuboriensis); 115. White-striped Free-tailed Bat (Austronomus australis); 116. East Coast Free-tailed Bat (Micronomus norfolkensis); 117. Beccari's Free-tailed Bat (Ozimops beccaril); 118. Northern Coastal Free-tailed Bat (Ozimops cobourgianus); 119. Cape York Free-tailed Bat (Ozimops hall); 120. South-western Free-tailed Bat (Ozimops kitchener); 121. Loria’s Free-tailed Bat (Ozimops loriae); 122. Lumsden'’s Free-tailed Bat (Ozimops lumsdenae); 123. Inland Free-tailed Bat (Ozimops petersi); 124. Southern Free-tailed Bat (Ozimops planiceps); 125. Ride's Free-tailed Bat (Ozimops ride); 126. Hairy-nosed Free-tailed Bat (Setirostris eleryi).

Distribution. Almost all E Australia from Cape Melville, N of Cooktown, to S Victoria, generally following areas with more than 500 mm of rainfall along coastal side of Great Dividing Range but also extending to W slope in S Queensland and New South Wales; in far S of its range it extends far inland along Murray River and major tributaries into South Australia, but is restricted in proximity to riverine and floodplain areas and is usually not found venturing far into surrounding semiarid environments.