[3][4] The population was described as a new species in 1979 by John McKean and Gordon Friend, nominating a holotype that was collected near South Alligator River in the Northern Territory of Australia.

[5][6] The pelage of the species is paler or mid-tone in colour, and the brownish fur frequently has an orange hue, with a distinctive broad and almost white stripe beneath the wing on their flank.

[2] They use ultrasonic signals to navigate and locate prey, a typical feature of microchiropterans, and their echolocation call is distinctive but potentially ambiguous in recordings.

The range is extended to the northwest of the continent, following analysis of echolocation signals found in aural surveys in the Kimberley region and at the western state and territory border.

[1] The habitat of the recorded sites, less than twenty, are in mangrove and floodplains, associated woodlands, or fragments of monsoonal forest types; they have also been observed feeding near paperbark swamps dominated by wetland melaleuca trees.

[1] The particular habitat types noted for T. kapalgensis include swamps at blacksoil plains or open woodlands of tree species Corymbia papuana and Pandanus spiralis.