NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Lord Howe Island Long-eared Bat
Nyctophilus howensis McKean, 1975
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Lord Howe long-eared bat (Nyctophilus howensis) was a vespertilionid bat known only by a single specimen, a skull found on Lord Howe Island in 1972. A mammalian insectivorous species resembling the long-eared Nyctophilus, with an elongated head that is comparatively larger, about which almost nothing is known. The bat may have been casually observed in flight during the twentieth century, but is likely to have become extinct since the island's discovery and occupation. The demise of N. howensis is possibly the result of shipwrecked rats and the owls introduced to control them.
Wikipedia contributors, Lord Howe long-eared bat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:20:45.082643+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Nyctophilus howensis McKean, 1975
- Name authority
- McKean, 1975
- Common name
- Lord Howe Island Long-eared Bat
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Family
- Vespertilionidae
- Genus
- Nyctophilus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extinct
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderChiroptera Blumenbach, 1779
- suborderYangochiroptera Koopman, 1984
- superfamilyVespertilionoidea Gray, 1821
- familyVespertilionidae Gray, 1821
- subfamilyVespertilioninae Gray, 1821
- tribeVespertilionini Gray, 1821
- genusNyctophilus Leach, 1821
- speciesNyctophilus howensis McKean, 1975
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Nyctophilus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Arnhem Long-eared BatNyctophilus arnhemensis Johnson, 1959 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Artful Long-eared BatNyctophilus daedalus Thomas, 1915 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sunda long-eared batNyctophilus heran Kitchener, How & Maharadatunkamsi, 1991 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Greater Long-eared BatNyctophilus major Gray, 1844 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| New Guinea Long-eared BatNyctophilus microtis Thomas, 1888 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tasmania Long-eared BatNyctophilus sherrini Thomas, 1915 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mount Missim Long-eared BatNyctophilus shirleyae Parnaby, 2009 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pygmy Long-eared BatNyctophilus walkeri Thomas, 1892 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| New Caledonian Long-eared BatNyctophilus nebulosus Parnaby, 2002 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bifax Long-eared BatNyctophilus bifax Thomas, 1915 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Corben's Long-eared BatNyctophilus corbeni Parnaby, 2009 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lesser Long-eared BatNyctophilus geoffroyi Leach, 1821 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- McKean, John L. (1975). The bats of Lord Howe Island with the description of a new nyctophiline bat. Australian Mammalogy, Vol. 1, No. 4. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:485YQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.