Ozimops facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ozimops |
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Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Molossidae |
| Genus: | Ozimops Reardon et al, 2014. |
Ozimops is a group of small bats called molossid bats. You can find them in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. They are also known as free-tailed bats because their tails stick out from their wing membranes.
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What Ozimops Bats Look Like
Ozimops bats are tiny and strong. Their forearms (the bones in their wings) are about 29 to 41 millimeters long. They weigh between 6 and 18 grams, which is about as much as a few paperclips!
Their ears are shaped like triangles with rounded tips. They are not joined together and have a small gap of 2 to 4 millimeters between them. Inside the ear, there's a part called the tragus, which is also rounded and wider at the bottom. Another part, the antitragus, is shaped like a half-circle or is hard to see. When the bat is alert, its ears stand up from the sides of its head.
Their snouts are wide and rounded, getting narrower towards the end. The top of their snout has short, fine fur. Mixed in with the fur are short, stiff hairs called vibrissae (like whiskers). However, they don't have the longer bristles found on a related bat called Setirostris eleryi.
Ozimops Bat Teeth
Most Ozimops bats have a special arrangement of 30 teeth. This is called their dental formula. For example, they usually have 1 incisor on top and 2 on the bottom, 1 canine on top and 1 on the bottom, 2 premolars on top and 2 on the bottom, and 3 molars on top and 3 on the bottom.
However, some older bats, especially Ozimops halli, might lose a tooth. This usually happens with an upper front premolar on one or both sides of their jaw.
How Ozimops Bats Were Named
The group Ozimops was first described in 2014. At that time, it was considered a subgenus of another bat group called Mormopterus. Scientists studied many different Australian bats and realized they were unique enough to be separated.
They found many new species within this group, especially in Australia and the Indo-Papuan region. Because there were so many different kinds, Ozimops was officially made its own genus (a larger group) in 2015.
Species of Ozimops Bats
Here are some of the species that belong to the Ozimops genus:
- genus Ozimops Reardon, McKenzie & Adams, 2014.
- sp. Ozimops cobourgianus (Johnson, 1959).
- sp. Ozimops halli Reardon et al, 2014.
- sp. Ozimops kitcheneri Reardon et al, 2014.
- sp. Ozimops lumsdenae Reardon et al, 2014.
- sp. Ozimops petersi (Leche, 1884)
- sp. Ozimops planiceps (Peters, 1866).
- sp. Ozimops ridei (Felten, 1964).
