 The status as a species has varied in treatments of larger long-eared Australian bats, the described taxon being sometimes submerged or synonymised to other taxa in the genus.The complexes of "Nyctophilus" species were published as often tentative or contradictory arrangements for taxa that were poorly known, and previous classifications had seen this species separated or assigned to "N. bifax" or "N. daedalus".The taxon was one of several to be reconsidered in a review of Nyctophilini species (Parnaby, 2009), and their alliance with the dubious name "Nyctophilus timoriensis", these included "N. sherrini", "N. major" and "N. howensis".