High diversity of pipistrelloid bats (Vespertilionidae: Hypsugo, Neoromicia, and Pipistrellus) in a West African rainforest with the description of a new species

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Publication Date

1-1-2013

Publication Title

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

Volume Number

167

Issue Number

1

Abstract

The pipistrelloid bats (genera Hypsugo, Neoromicia, and Pipistrellus) of Africa have been poorly studied, partly as a result of problems associated with species identification. This paper examines the diversity of pipistrelloid bats from Mount Nimba, a biodiversity hotspot in the Upper Guinean rainforest zone. Traditional morphometrics, the structure of the baculum, and sequences of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene were used to identify taxa. Species richness was exceptionally high and included at least ten taxa identifiable on molecular grounds. Of these, existing names could be assigned to six taxa. A seventh taxon was described as a species new to science, Neoromicia roseveari sp. nov., and was distinguished on molecular grounds, craniodental morphology, and baculum structure. The remaining taxa may refer to as-yet undescribed species but we lacked sufficient material to formally describe them here. The high species richness of pipistrelloid bats on Mount Nimba may be associated with the transition zone from lowland rainforest to moist savannah.

Keywords

Bats, Chiroptera, Taxonomy, Biodiversity, Genetics

Document Type

Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00871.x

Language

English

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