Rhinolophus hillorum, Koopman, 1989

Burgin, Connor, 2019, Rhinolophidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 280-332 : 294

28 . Upland Horseshoe Bat

Rhinolophus hillorum

French: Rhinolophe de Lofa / German: Hochland-Hufeisennase / Spanish: Herradura montana

Other common names: Hill's Horseshoe Bat

Taxonomy. Rhinolophus clivosus hillorum Koopman, 1989 , “ John Hegbe Farm near Zozoma, ca. 2 mi [= 3- 2 km] SW Voinjama in Lofa County, extreme northwestern Liberia at ca. 500 m elevation.”

Rhinolophus hillorum is in the ferrumequinum species group. It has been included as a subspecies of R clivosus but is now generally recognized as a distinct species. Monotypic.

Distribution. Scattered records from SE Guinea, N Liberia, S Nigeria, and W Cameroon with certainty; probably erroneous records from SE South Sudan, N Uganda, and S Kenya.

Descriptive notes. Head—body c. 64—71 mm, tail 30-41 mm, ear 21—24 mm, hindfoot 12-14 mm, forearm 52-57 mm; weight 16- 5-25 g. The Upland Horseshoe Bat is large, with medium brown to grayish brown dorsum and paler venter. No orange morph has been reported. Males lack axillary tufts. Ears are short (37-44% of forearm length) and have 11-12 internal folds. Lancet is wide and almost parallel-sided at base; tip of lancet is very narrow, hairy, and slightly rounded; connecting process is narrow, high, rounded, ellipsoid in profile, much higher than sella tip, and liberally covered with hair; sella is naked, nearly parallel-sided (diverging slighdy toward top) and rounded at top; and horseshoe is relatively narrow at 8-3-9- 1 mm, does not completely cover muzzle, lacks lateral leaflets, and has distinct median emargination. Lower lip has single groove. Wings and uropatagium are blackish brown. Skull is exceptionally robust, with thick, broad zygomatic arches (zygomatic width is much larger than mastoid width); rostrum is very broad; nasal swellings are very low; frontal depression is very shallow; supraorbital crest is apparently not well defined; and sagittal crest is well developed anteriorly and moderately defined posteriorly. P2 is absent, allowing C1 and P4 to touch; P is also absent, so P and P4 are in contact; and P2 is one-half to two-thirds height of P4 Dental formula is then 11/2, C 1/1, P 1/2, M 3/3 (x2) = 28.

Habitat. Montane forests, montane grasslands, dense rainforests, secondary forest, and gallery forests surrounded by savanna in highlands of Guinea, Liberia, and Cameroon and lowland and coastal rainforests surrounding these areas, primarily at elevations of 1400-1950 m.

Food and Feeding. The Upland Horseshoe Bat is insectivorous and probably occasionally forages by perch-hunting.

Breeding. A pregnant Upland Horseshoe Bat was captured in lateJune. Litter size is one.

Activity patterns. Upland Horseshoe Bats are nocturnal and can enter torpor while roosting during the day. They roost in caves, abandoned mines, and under bridges.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Upland Horseshoe Bats have been recorded roosting in small groups (ten individuals in one group in Liberia) and sharing roosts with the Angolan Soft-furred Fruit Bat ( Lissonycteris angolensis ), the Bushveld Horseshoe Bat { simulator ), and the Guinean Horseshoe Bat { guineensis ).

Status and Conservation. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCNRed List. The Upland Horseshoe Bat is known from very few scattered records and is considered rare, threatened by habitat loss and destruction from agricultural expansion and planned large-scale mining. It is possibly threatened by exploitation for bushmeat.

Bibliography. ACR (2018), Csorba et al. (2003), Cotterill (2002a), Fahr (2013f), Happold (1987), Jacobs et al. (2010), Koopman (1989), Koopman et al. (1995), Monadjem, Richards & Denys (2016).

Figures

On following pages: 27. African Forest Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus silvestris); 28. Upland Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hillorum); 29. Sakeji Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus sakejiensis); 30. Bokhara Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus bocharicus); 31. Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum); 32. Geoffrey's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus clivosus); 33. Greater Japanese Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus nippon); 34. Horacek's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus horaceki); 35. Maclaud's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus maclaudi); 36. Ziama Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ziama); 37. Hill's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hilli); 38. Kahuzi Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus kahuzi); 39. Willard's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus willardi); 40. Ruwenzori Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ruwenzorii); 41. Chinese Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus xinanzhongguoensis); 42. Big-eared Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus macrotis); 43. Osgood's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus osgoodi); 44. Allen's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus episcopus); 45. Thai Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus siamensis); 46, Schnitzler's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus schnitzten); M. King Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus rex); 48. Marshall’s Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus marshalli).

Distribution. Scattered records from SE Guinea , N Liberia , S Nigeria , and W Cameroon with certainty; probably erroneous records from SE South Sudan , N Uganda , and S Kenya .