regular followers of birding-aus will have been impressed with the
knowledgeable and constructive contributions from Chris Corben, particularly in
helping people understand the complexities of plumage condition and moult, and
their impact on bird identification. Perhaps many birding-aus members are not
aware that birding is only one of Chris' many talents. In particular he has
made an enormous contribution to the study of bats by developing and refining a
device to automatically record and identify bat echolocation calls - the Anabat
bat detector. This device is now a standard wildlife survey tool in Australia
and elsewhere.
Chris' contribution to bat study has now been formally recognised by the naming
of a new species long-eared bat Nyctophilus corbeni (formerly the south-eastern
Australian form of the Greater Long-eared Bat N. timoriensis). In his taxonomic
review published in the latest Australian Zoologist, Harry Parnaby has this to
say about the etymology of the name:
'named in honour of Christopher John Corben, bat researcher, frog expert,
ornithologist and technophile, in recognition his contribution to Australian
zoology from his largely unfunded pioneering development and ceaseless
refinement of technology and software for the detection, storage and analysis
of bat echolocation calls which has revolutionised bat research and inventory
in Australia and on other continents.'
Congratulation Chris, and well done Harry!
Peter Menkhorst
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