Brown tube-nosed bat  (Murina suilla)

Characterised by a simple nose with tube-shaped nostrils, this tiny member of the Vespertilionidae family (the evening bats) has long, fuzzy brown fur, tending to grey-brown on the sides and belly (2). The body is compact and the skin is capacious, allowing the bat to wriggle free of a predator's grip (3). Whilst all bats possess wings formed from a double membrane stretched between the elongated fingers, the evening bats also have a membrane stretched between their ankles and nearly enclosing the tail, known as the interfemoral membrane (4). This membrane is unusually furry in the brown tube-nosed bat. Whilst this species finds its insect prey using echolocation, its ears are small for its size. As the brown tube-nosed bat holds its mouth open much of the time in order to echolocate, it is easy to see its large, sharp teeth, used to crush hard-bodied insects (3).