Ozimops cobourgianus (Johnson, 1959)

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Molossidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 598-672 : 669-670

120.

Northern Coastal Free-tailed Bat

Ozimops cobourgianus

French: Tadaride de Cobourg / German: Nordkisten-Bulldogfledermaus / Spanish: Murciélago rabudo de Cobourg

Other common names: Mangrove Free-tailed Bat, North-western Freetail Bat, Western Little Free-tailed Bat

Taxonomy. 7 Tadarida loriae cobourgiana D. H. Johnson, 1959 ,

“ Black Rock Point (on north shore of Van Diemen Gulf, 15 miles [= 24 km] southeast of Cape Don lighthouse), Cobourg Peninsula, Northern Tewritory, Australia: (Jai. 11° 26'S, long. 131° 56’ E).”

Ozimops cobourgianus has variously been treated within O. loriae or O. planiceps , as either a subspecies or a synonym. Species status was resolved in 2014 by T. B. Reardon and colleagues, who placed it in the Mormopterus subgenus Ozimops , which was then elevated to genus level by S. M. Jackson and C. P. Groves in 2015. Monotypic. Distribution. Coastal N Australia, in Western Australia (Exmouth E to Broome) and Northern Territory up to the Queensland border, on the Gulf of Carpentaria (including Melville I).

Descriptive notes. Head—body 45-55 mm,tail 28-34 mm, forearm 32-35- 1 mm; weight 6-10- 5 g. Fur on head and back is light orange brown, sometimes with gray-brown frosting; underparts are cream, sometimes yellowy cream, and fur extends well onto wing and knee. Ears are triangular, with straight leading edges and rounded tips. Skin on face and wings is dark brown. Males are distinguishable from all other Ozimops species by their glans penis, which has large epithelial spines covering glans body, from base of glans to bacular mound. Skull is small and slender with no sagittal crest. P* is taller than cingulum of C' and readily visible; width of P, is ¢.80% the size of P,. The species can be distinguished from other Ozimops by a unique combination of allozyme alleles with number of fixed differences ranging from four to eleven.

Habitat. Largely restricted to mangrove forests and adjacent monsoon floodplain forests and woodlands.

Food and Feeding. Like most molossids, the Northern Coastal Free-tailed Bat forages in open areas. In the Northern Territory,it has been found to eat mostly beetles, ants, and leathoppers.

Breeding. Northern Coastal Free-tailed Bats give birth to single young early in the wet season (December), and young are weaned from March to May.

Activity patterns. The Northern Coastal Free-tailed Bat is nocturnal, and may emerge relatively early from roosts, shortly after sunset. It roosts in small spouts and crevices in the dead upper branches of gray mangrove trees (Avicennia marina, Acanthaceae ).

Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Northern Coastal Free-tailed Bat has been observed roosting in groups of up to 100 individuals; however, after emergence it forages alone or in pairs.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List (as Mormopterus cobourgianus ), because it has a large range (estimated at ¢. 120,000 km?) with an area of occupancy of ¢. 4700 km * (c. 1200 km * in Western Australia and ¢. 3500 km? in the Northern Territory). Population size is difficult to estimate; although the species is not common,it is reliably encountered in mangrove habitat, and, given its extensive area of occupancy, population size is likely to be above 10,000 mature individuals. Much of its habitat is in remote areas, and the population is not subjected to large-scale direct anthropogenic threats other than climate change. In May 2016, a massive area of coastal mangrove dieback was reported on the Gulf of Carpentaria , and although this represents less than 2% of the area of occupancy ofthis species,if further events occur they could lead to declines. Other localized threats come from coastal development, oil spillage and silting from rivers, caused by upstream grazing and industry.

Bibliography. Churchill (2008), Jackson & Groves (2015), Milne et al. (2016), Reardon et al. (2014).

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).

Ozimops cobourgianus has variously been treated within O. loriae or O. planiceps , as either a subspecies or a synonym. Species status was resolved in 2014 by T. B. Reardon and colleagues, who placed it in the Mormopterus subgenus Ozimops , which was then elevated to genus level by S. M. Jackson and C. P. Groves in 2015. Monotypic. Distribution. Coastal N Australia , in Western Australia (Exmouth E to Broome) and Northern Territory up to the Queensland border, on the Gulf of Carpentaria (including Melville I).