Hill's roundleaf bat

Hill's roundleaf bat (Hipposideros edwardshilli) is a species of bat in the family Hipposideridae endemic to Papua New Guinea.^[1]

Hill's roundleaf bat
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Chiroptera
Family:	Hipposideridae
Genus:	Macronycteris
Species:	H. edwardshilli
Binomial name
Hipposideros edwardshilli Flannery & Colgan, 1993
Hill's roundleaf bat range

Taxonomy

Hill's roundleaf bat was described as a new species in 1993 by Tim Flannery and Donald Colgan. The holotype had been collected in the Bewani Mountains near Imonda Station in 1990 by P. German and L. Seri. The eponym for the species name "edwardshilli" was British mammalogist John Edwards Hill, "in recognition of his outstanding contributions to bat taxonomy".^[2]

Description

Individuals have a forearm length of 49.6–51 mm (1.95–2.01 in) and a very short tail length of 11.1–15 mm (0.44–0.59 in). It differs from all other Hipposideros species in its two club-like projections on its nose-leaf.^[2]

Range and habitat

Hill's roundleaf bat is endemic to Papua New Guinea in Oceania. It has been documented at a narrow range of elevations from 200–300 m (660–980 ft) above sea level.^[1]

Conservation

As of 2021, it is evaluated as a vulnerable species by the IUCN. It meets the criteria for this designation because it has a potentially limited habitat for roosting. Its area of occupancy is possibly less than 2,000 km² (490,000 acres). Habitat loss is ongoing through deforestation. It has not been documented since its description in 1993.^[1]