Yellow-bellied Sheath-tailed Bat

The yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat (Saccolaimus flaviventris), also known as the yellow-bellied sheathtail or yellow-bellied pouched bat, is a microbat species of the family Emballonuridae found extensively in Australia and less commonly in parts of Papua New Guinea. Although found throughout most parts of Australia, very little is known about its ecology due to the small size, nocturnal activity, and general elusiveness of most microbat species, making them difficult to study. They are sometimes mistaken for the endangered and less widely distributed bare-rumped sheathtail bat where the two species occur sympatrically, as well as other similar Emballonuridae species, but upon inspection are quite distinct and easily identified. At present, the yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat is the only member of the Microchiroptera that has been positively identified as a carrier of Australian bat lyssavirus. == Taxonomy == The first description of the species was provided by Wilhelm Peters in 1867, using a specimen that G. R. Waterhouse had proved to John Gould. The yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat belongs to the suborder Microchiroptera, or insectivorous microbats, and is the largest Australian member of the family Emballonuridae. The Emballonuridae are distinguished by a partially membrane-enclosed tail that projects into a sheath, hence the descriptive term sheathtail…