This tiny Australian bat is the size of a matchbox. But it flies up to 150km a night in search of food

Researchers attached GPS trackers to southern bent-wing bats to work out where they were flying. Photograph: Jo Howell/Zoos Victoria

A tiny, critically endangered bat – roughly the size of a matchbox – can fly about 150km in a single night, new research has found.

Southern bent-wing bats roost in caves in south-west Victoria and south-east South Australia. They fly out at night in search of food, eating about half their body weight in insects.