What bat from Christmas Island went extinct in 2009 due to habitat loss?

The bat from Christmas Island that went extinct in 2009 was the Christmas Island pipistrelle, Pipistrellus murrayi. It was a tiny vesper bat found only on Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the eastern Indian Ocean, making it highly vulnerable to local environmental changes.

The species weighed roughly 3–4.5 grams and roosted in old-growth rainforest, often under loose bark, in tree hollows, or beneath dead palm fronds. It was still described as common in 1985, but its numbers fell sharply from about 1990 onward. Habitat loss from phosphate mining damaged its feeding and roosting environment, although scientists have not established one definitive cause for the final collapse.

In January 2009, surveys suggested that perhaps only around 20 bats remained. Researchers detected a single bat during an intensive search in August, but could not capture it for a proposed captive-breeding program. Its final echolocation call was recorded on August 26, 2009. No further individuals have been seen or heard, and the species is considered extinct.