Elusive Australian bat sometimes snacks on other bats

A south-east Australian bat that was thought to mainly eat insects also sometimes consumes other bats, according to an analysis of its droppings.

The greater broad-nosed bat (Scoteanax rueppellii) mostly lives along the coast and foothills of New South Wales. It is poorly understood because it is difficult to capture and its echolocation calls overlap with those of other bat species, making it tricky to detect, says Brad Law at the New South Wales government’s Department of Primary Industries.

“They’re hard to catch because they mostly …