Pseudoromicia, 2020

Monadjem, Ara, Demos, Terrence C, Dalton, Desire L, Webala, Paul W, Musila, Simon, Kerbis Peterhans, Julian C & Patterson, Bruce D, 2020, A revision of pipistrelle-like bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in East Africa with the description of new genera and species, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (Zool. J. Linn. Soc.) 190, pp. 1-33 : 19-20

PSEUDOROMICIA MONADJEM, PATTERSON, WEBALA & DEMOS GEN. NOV.

LSID: http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:71737F08-2938-4403-8385-5438B2E5EABE

Synonymy

Vesperus Peters 1872 (part, not Keyserling & Blasius, 1839).

Vesperugo Dobson 1878 (part, not Keyserling & Blasius, 1839).

Eptesicus Matschie, 1897 (part, not Rafinesque,1820).

Vespertilio Miller, 1900 (part, not Linnaeus, 1758).

Pipistrellus Monard, 1935 (part, not Kaup, 1829).

Nycterikaupius (part, not Menu, 1987).

Neoromicia Kearney et al., 2002 (part, not Roberts, 1926).

Complete synonymic histories for the species placed herein in Pseudoromicia are given in the African Chiroptera report ( AfricanBats NPC, 2019).

Type species: Pseudoromicia tenuipinnis (Peters, 1872) .

Included species: Pseudoromicia brunnea (Thomas, 1880) ; Pseudoromicia isabella ( Decher, Hutterer & Monadjem, 2015) ; Pseudoromicia rendalli (Thomas, 1889) ; Pseudoromicia roseveari ( Monadjem et al., 2013) ; Pseudoromicia tenuipinnis (Peters, 1872) ; and two newly described species (see below).

Etymology: This feminine name is derived from the Greek prefix ψευδο-, false, and the genus Romicia Gray, 1838, in turn derived from the Ancient Greek word ρóμιξα, meaning a ‘kind of javelin or huntingspear’. It also hints at the genus Neoromicia , to which members of Pseudoromicia were previously assigned. Members of this new genus resemble and have in the past been confused with Neoromicia species.

Diagnosis: T h e s e a r e s m a l l t o m e d i u m - s i z e d vespertilionids with a simple muzzle. The tragus is typically curved anteriorly, with a notch at the base of the posterior margin. The pelage of the upper and under parts is variably coloured, but in most species tends to be unicoloured dorsally and bicoloured ventrally. In contrast, dorsal pelage is bicoloured in Afronycteris , Laephotis and Neoromicia . Four of the seven species in this genus have translucent white wing membranes, whereas membranes are dark brown or blackish in colour in the remaining three species. The cranium is slightly inflated to relatively flattish in lateral profile; in contrast, it is highly inflated in Afronycteris and moderately inflated in Neoromicia s.s., whereas it is flattened in Laephotis . The outer incisors are usually half the length or less of the inner incisors, the latter being weakly bicuspid or unicuspid. The P 1 is absent, contrasting with Afronycteris , in which it is present and relatively large. The baculum (~3.0 mm in length) is distinctly longer than that of any of the other three genera previously included in Neoromicia , with a robust trilobed base and strongly arched shaft leading to a bilobed tip ( Fig. 5C ).

Distribution: This genus is widely distributed across sub-Saharan Africa. However, all but one of the species is associated with equatorial tropical forest and woodland belt. One species, Pse. rendalli , extends far into savanna habitats, ranging from 13°N to 28°S.

Systematic relationships: The genera Pseudoromicia and Afronycteris are sister to the genera Laephotis and Neoromicia as now understood (see below).

Figures

Figure 5. Bacula of the four clades within formerly or traditionally recognized as Neoromicia: A, Laephotis kirinyaga (FMNH 234639); B, Neoromicia somalica (FMNH 215614); C, Pseudoromicia kityoi (FMNH 223211); and D, Afronycteris nana (DM 13013). Note the three-pronged tip in Neoromicia, the straight shaft with spatulate tip at an angle of 45° in Laephotis, the long, curved shaft with bilobed tip in Pseudoromicia and the deeply bilobed base and gently curved shaft in Afronycteris. Scale bars: 1 mm.