Mops (Xiphonycteris) nanulus J. A. Allen, 1917

Mongombe, Aaron Manga, Fils, Eric Moise Bakwo & Tamesse, Joseph Lebel, 2020, Annotated checklist of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of Mount Cameroon, southwestern Cameroon, Zoosystema 42 (24), pp. 483-514 : 505

Mops (Xiphonycteris) nanulus J. A. Allen, 1917

( Fig. 17 , Table 3 )

Mops (Allomops) nanulus J. A. Allen, 1917: 477 .

COMMON NAME. — English: Dwarf Free-tailed Bat. French:Tadaride naine.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 5 specimens (see Table 1 ).

ORIGINAL DATA. — 5 individuals of the Dwarf free-tailed bat were mist-netted over a slow flowing stream in a fallow farmland, at an altitude 470 m a.s.l. These specimens were the first recorded in the Mount Cameroon area. We did not examine any museum specimens attributed to this species.

DIAGNOSIS. — The forearm measurement of this species is 28.7- 30.2 mm ( Table 3 ), which concurs with measurements provided by Happold (2013h) as Tadarida nanula . The dorsal and flank pelage is brown, contrasting with creamy-white chest and belly ( Fig. 17 ). Ears are large with large flap of skin joining the inner surfaces. The wing membranes are whitish, and each jaw possesses two lower incisors. External measurements ( Table 3 ) and skull measurements ( Table 4 ) of one preserved bat are within the range given by Happold (2013h as Tadarida nanula ).

HABITATS AND DISTRIBUTION. — The Dwarf free-tailed bat is widely, but patchily, recorded in West, Central and East Africa from Sierra Leone and Guinea through Cameroon, to western Ethiopia and southward to Democratic Republic of the Congo ( Happold 2013h as Tadarida nanula ). It is principally associated with lowland closed forest habitat ( Happold 1987; Monadjem et al. 2010). It has also been recorded in mesic savannah ( Kingdon 1974), where it roosts in small colonies in roofs of thatched huts and tree hollows ( Happold 1987).

Figures

FIG. 17. — Mops (Xiphonycteris) nanulus J. A. Allen, 1917. Photo: © Aaron Manga Mongombe.