Madagascar Long-fingered Bat

Miniopterus brachytragos is a small, short-tailed Miniopterus with short and relatively thin fur. The fur of the upperparts is dark brown and the hairs on the underparts have buff tips. Miniopterus mahafaliensis is similar in color, but other small Malagasy Miniopterus are darker. The ears are haired above, but virtually naked below and end in a rounded tip. The tragus (a projection on the inner side of the outer ear) is short and has a broad base, sometimes with a crest at the side. It ends in a pointed to slightly rounded tip, which is covered with hairs that are not readily visible to the unaided eye. The short tragus easily distinguishes M. brachytragos from other Malagasy Miniopterus. The wing membrane is also brown, but the uropatagium (tail membrane) is lighter. The wing membrane and uropatagium are attached to the upper leg at the same level, above the ankle. The uropatagium is relatively densely covered with hairs, particularly on the upper side. M. manavi and M. mahafaliensis also have a densely haired uropatagium, but in M. aelleni and M. …

Miniopterus brachytragos is known from several ecologically different sites. In the Namoroka region, it has been recorded at 100 to 200 m (330 to 660 ft) altitude in dry forest and gallery forest. Another specimen was caught in forest in a karst region in Bemaraha. Near Daraina in the northeast, the species occurs in eastern humid forest mixed with dry forest at 320 m (1,050 ft). At another northeastern site, on the Masoala Peninsula, it was found in lowland gallery forest near sea level. On Nosy Komba, its habitat consists of dry forest mixed with introduced Mangifera indica (mango tree). Little is known of the ecology of M. brachytragos, but species of Miniopterus generally feed on insects, breed seasonally, and roost in large colonies in caves.