Orange leaf-nosed bat

The orange leaf-nosed bat, Rhinonicteris aurantia, is the only living species of its genus and is found only in Australia, in the far north and north-west of the continent. It is a small bat weighing 7 to 11 grams, with fur that varies from brownish or reddish orange to lemon-yellow or white, and a broad, flattened nose-leaf with a scalloped top. It roosts in warm, humid caves and abandoned mines in colonies that can number in the thousands, shares caves with other bats, and hunts mainly moths at night. The colony may desert a site if visitors intrude. John Edward Gray described it in 1845 from a specimen collected at Port Essington. A genetically distinct Pilbara form is assessed separately and is vulnerable.