Bat research in Australasia : in memory of Les Hall

This Special Issue of the Australian Journal of Zoology is in honour of Dr Leslie Hall who passed away early in 2019. Les was a true-blue legend and his legacy of pioneering research on Australasian bats did much to increase our understanding of the biology of these fascinating native mammals. He was also a passionate campaigner for bat conservation and an inspirational mentor to so many of us around Australasia who followed in his path. Les’ interests included all bats: flying foxes, blossom bats and the smaller echolocating species. He was equally at home exploring the depths of caves with a hand net or tropical forests with bat detectors and traps. He was instrumental in ensuring that bat studies became an important component of biological science in Australasia, and helped advertise the work that was occurring in this region to scientists around the world.