S. Parsons, SEARCH-PHASE ECHOLOCATION CALLS OF THE NEW-ZEALAND LESSER SHORT-TAILED BAT (MYSTACINA-TUBERCULATA) AND LONG-TAILED BAT (CHALINOLOBUS-TUBERCULATUS), Canadian journal of zoology, 75(9), 1997, pp. 1487-1494
This paper describes the search-phase echolocation calls of lesser sho
rt-tailed bats (Mystacina tuberculata) and long-tailed bats (Chalinolo
bus tuberculatus). Calls were recorded from all three subspecies of sh
ort-tailed bat and seven populations of long-tailed bat, three in Nort
hland, two in the central North Island, and two in the lower South Isl
and. The calls were recorded in the field and digitised, then three sp
ectral components and one temporal component of the calls were measure
d. Calls of the lesser short-tailed bat could be loosely classified in
to subspecies by means of multivariate discriminant function analysis.
Similarly, long-tailed bat calls showed regional variation, and discr
iminant function analysis was able to fit calls to regional groups wit
h a high rate of success. The significance of the results presented is
discussed in terms of the conservation of New Zealand bats and the un
ique ecology of the lesser short-tailed bat.