The golden-tipped bat (Phoniscus papuensis) is a species of Microchiropteran in the family Vespertilionidae.[1] It is found in Papua New Guinea and in Australia, especially scattered along the eastern part of Australia.[2] The species is considered uncommon,[3] and is listed as endangered in Australia.[4]
The golden-tipped bat has brown color and broken color patterns on its pelage;[2] the body is covered with woolly fur.[4] Broken color patterns support crypsis in the golden-tipped bat;[4] thick pelage and wooly fur provide thermal insulation.[4] The average weight of adults is 6.7g.[4]
The wings of the golden-tipped bat show a low aspect ratio, with low wing loading. (That is, the wing is broad.) These wing features of support slow flight.[5] [6] Additionally, the large tail membrane aids the wing membrane in enabling tight turns in flight.[5] [6] Rounded wing tips also contribute to high maneuverability in flight.[5] [6]
The golden-tipped bat also uses echolocation for foraging, with frequencies of approximately 155 kHz to 60 kHz.[5]
The golden-tipped bat has been mainly recorded in rainforest or wet sclerophyll forest.[2] It has also been recorded in dry sclerophyll forest. They live at elevations up to 1,000m.[2]
They make diurnal roosts ranging from 0.5 to 9.0m above the ground,[4] roosting on the branches of trees or in tree hollows.[4] Female bats use the canopy of a tree for a maternity site;[4] Roosts, and their broken patterns of pelage, enable this species to hide from their predators.[4]
Araneida such as orb-weaver and big-jawed spiders are the main food of golden-tipped bats; as shown by the high proportion of Araneida body fragments among the particles lodged among the bats' teeth and fur. Even though Araneida is a major food source for the golden-tipped bat, these bats also consume insects which belong to the insect orders Coleoptera (beetles) and Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths).
The golden-tipped bat uses multiple foraging strategies to hunt. One is ground gleaning.[5] They also hover-glean, flying slowly and taking prey from elevated places such as high tree trunks.[5] The golden tipped bat use broad bandwidth echolocation to find precise localization of a target. Additionally, they use high frequency echolocation to find stationary prey such as spiders on their webs.[5]