Flute-nosed bat

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Flute-nosed bat (Murina florium)

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)

Where it lives
- Northern Queensland, Australia, and parts of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
- Found on many Indonesian islands up to New Guinea; in Australia it occurs along the north-eastern coast from Shipton Flat to Paluma

What it looks like
- Fur: thick and long; front is mid-grey, back is reddish or brown-grey; fur reaches the tail membrane
- Nose: distinctive tubular nostrils that face outward
- Ears: notched at the base; small, simple tragus; ears broadly round
- Size: forearm 33–36 mm; head and body 47–57 mm; tibia 31–37 mm; ear length 14–15 mm
- Weight: 6–9 g (average about 8.4 g)

How it flies and feeds
- Flight is slow; the bat can hover
- Forages by gleaning arthropods from the surfaces of tall plants in wet forests, mainly in the upper canopy and mid-storey
- Roosts by hanging from foliage or occupying bird nests in scrub or ferns

Call and behavior
- Emits a long, high-pitched whistle as a contact call in flight

Taxonomy and naming
- Described by Oldfield Thomas in 1908; type specimen from Flores
- Subspecies names have been proposed (Murina lanosa, Murina toxopei) but are not well defined
- Also known as Flores tube-nosed bat or tube-nosed insectivorous bat

Habitat details
- Prefers rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest at 200–1,000 meters above sea level
- Range in Australia is a narrow coastal strip in the northeast

Behavior notes
- Known for slow, purposeful flight and a tendency to roost in foliage or bird nests when resting