Big-eared mastiff bat

The big-eared mastiff bat (Otomops papuensis) is a species of bat in the family Molossidae that is endemic to Papua New Guinea. It is known from only eleven specimens, is not easy to survey, and is thought to forage in the rainforest canopy and roost in tree hollows. As of 2020 it is known from two sites, in Gulf Province and Oro Province, at elevations between sea level and 300 metres, and is likely more widespread than currently known. The American mammalogist Barbara Lawrence described it in 1948 from a holotype collected in 1862 at the Vailala River, about 24 kilometres west of Kerema. Its fur is rich reddish brown, darker at the tips and paler at the bases, with a lighter underside and a particularly pale throat. It has large rounded ears without antitragi, a very small tragus and a band of tissue joining the ears, and unlike some relatives its upper lip is not wrinkled.