Distribution of the endangered Pacific sheathtail bat Emballonura semicaudata.

Abstract

The Pacific sheathtail bat (Emballonura semicaudata) is one of few mammal species widely distributed in the south-west Pacific. However in many island groups its distribution and abundance remain uncertain and these patterns are obscured by the ongoing decline of many populations. Here we verify the (formerly disputed) presence of this bat in Vanuatu, provide the first record from the largest island in Samoa (Savai`i, Western Samoa), and review the known distribution of the species across the Pacific. A number of sources point to a precipitous twentieth-century decline of this species over most of its geographic range.