Distribution and habitat of the flute-nosed bat Murina florium (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in the wet tropics of north-eastern Queensland

Abstract

The flute-nosed bat Murina florium is a poorly known species that was first discovered in Australia at Mt Baldy State Forest on the Atherton Tablelands in north-eastern Queensland in 1981. Subsequently there have been few other documented records despite intensive harp trapping studies, with the species only recorded from an additional six localities up until December 1995. This study provides four new locality records for the species, including two records which extend the known southern range limits of M. florium by 150 km across the Herbert River discontinuity within the Wet Tropics bioregion. The broad habitat characteristics of all known localities for the species are reviewed and the paper presents the first account of this bat occurring in non-rainforest habitat. Occurrence of M. florium in this habitat is discussed using current knowledge of roosting and ecomorphology characteristics. A predicted distribution of M. florium based on the 11 locality records, is calculated using DOMAIN and 16 biophysical parameters.