Tiny bat named mammal of the year

A critically endangered and tiny bat has been named Australia's mammal of the year after a popular vote conducted by a science magazine.

The southern bent-wing bat weighs an average of 15 grams and is found only in parts of southeast South Australia and southwest Victoria.

It beat the dingo to take the title, which was announced at Adelaide Zoo on Thursday after an online ballot by COSMOS magazine received more than 50,000 responses from across the world.

The bat received more than 3000 votes compared with just under 2000 for the dingo, then won 60 per cent of the vote in a run-off between the two.

Editor Gail MacCallum said the poll helped raise awareness of the bat's struggle for survival and the issues facing other endangered species.

She said that during the eight weeks of the competition more Australian mammals had been shifted to the list of those at risk.

"It has to stop and that involves us starting the pushback for them with better protection laws," Ms MacCallum said.

"They live nowhere else and once they're gone, they're lost forever."

The remaining populations of the southern bent-winged bat are centred on three caves where they give birth and raise their young.

At night, mothers leave their pups clustered on the cave ceilings while they hunt for insects.

The bats can fly more than 70 kilometres in just a few hours.

The species relies heavily on high individual survival rates, with females having only one pup a year.

Widespread loss of foraging habitat and loss of caves are considered the biggest threats to their long-term survival.