Rhinolophus capensis, Lichtenstein, 1823

Burgin, Connor, 2019, Rhinolophidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 280-332 : 284-285

9 . Cape Horseshoe Bat

Rhinolophus capensis

French: Rhinolophe du Cap I German: Kap-Hufeisennase I Spanish: Herradura de El Cabo

Other common names: Southern Africa Horseshoe Bat

Taxonomy. Rhinolophus capensis Lichtenstein, 1823 ,

Cape of Good Hope , Western Cape Province, South Africa.

Rhinolophus capensis is in the capensis species group, which might also include A blasii based on genetic data, but additional research is needed. Remainder of the African-Palearctic species groups (Zandm, euryale , ferrumequinum , and maclaudi groups) along with the Chinese A xrnanzhongguoensis seem to form a large clade, although phylogenetic relationships in this clade have yet to be resolved. Rhinolophus capensis seems to be sister to A swinnyi , with which it is partially sympatric. Monotypic.

Distribution. South Africa in coastal Northern, Western, and Eastern Cape provinces. Possibly enters coastal SW Namibia, although this has yet to be confirmed; all other non-South African records are erroneous.

Descriptive notes. Head-body c. 56 - 66 mm, tail 24-32 mm, ear 21-25 mm, forearm 47-51 mm; weight 9-14- 6 g. Pelage is pale to medium brown dorsally (individual hairs are pale gray, beige, or cream, with brown tips) or bright red in orange morph; venter is paler, sometimes more grayish. Males lack axillary tufts. Ears are medium in length (46-52% offorearm length). Noseleafhas hastate lancet, with blundy pointed tip; sella is naked, with parallel or slighdy concave sides and rounded top; connecting process is rounded, sometimes nearly triangular with rounded top, and is higher than sella; horseshoe is narrow at 7-3—8- 1 mm and does not cover entire muzzle; lateral leaflets are present but poorly developed; and anterior emargination is deep. Lower lip has one well-defined groove. Wings and uropatagium are brown. Skull is rather robust, with broad zygomatic arches and zygomatic width larger than mastoid width; nasal swellings are medium in relative height; frontal depression is shallow, and supraorbital ridges are weak; sagittal crest is well developed anteriorly but absent posteriorly; and interpterygoid groove is distinct. P2 is small to medium-sized and usually slightly displaced labially, sometimes nearly completely displaced, but C 1 and P4 never touch as a result, being well separated; P3 is small and partly or completely displaced labially. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 58 and FNa = 60.

Habitat. Primarily savanna, montane forest, coastal forest, and fynbos (shrubland) habitats. Roosts of Cape Horseshoe Bats occur in coastal and sea caves and dark lofts and mine shafts; houses are typically avoided.

Food and Feeding. Cape Horseshoe Bats seem to forage by slowly flying through vegetation (slow aerial clutter foraging) and gleaning prey off of the ground or foliage. They might feed by perch-hunting, in which they ambush prey by perching on vegetation and waiting for prey to pass by. Large proportions of diets consist of lepidopterans and coleopterans, and neuropterans, hemipterans, and dipterans make up smaller amounts of diets. Cape Horseshoe Bats eat smaller prey than sympatric Geoffroy’s Horseshoe Bats ( clivosus ), probably to avoid competition.

Breeding. The Cape Horseshoe Bat is seasonally monoestrous. Spermatogenesis occurs in October—May, and sperm is stored in epididymis through winter, which is rather unusual for species of Rhinolophus . Copulation takes place when winter ends in August-September, in contrast to most other hibernating species of Rhinolophus that mate before winter with sperm stored in females’ reproductive tracts. Although females are in estrus or submaximal estrus in May, there are cornified epithelial cells blocking the vagina that prevent copulation through hibernation in winter. Births are reported in summer (November-December) after 3-4 months of gestation. Litter size is one. Lactation has been recorded in December-January. Young cling to their mothers during the day but are left in roosts when mothers leave to forage at night. Male testes are active at 11-12 months old, although their first mating does not occur until their second year; females typically start breeding in their second year.

Activity patterns. Cape Horseshoe Bats are nocturnal. Days are spent in roosts that are left after dark. Roosts occur in coastal and sea caves and dark lofts and mine shafts; houses are typically avoided. According to J. T. McDonald and colleagues in 1990, they are most active during the first two hours after sunset when they forage. Bouts of foraging continue throughout the night, with breaks in between to return to roosts. In a recent study by A. J. Thomas and D. S. Jacobs in 2013, moth-eating bats—including the Cape Horseshoe Bat and the Egyptian Slit-faced Bat { Nycteris thebaica ) —emerged earlier than bats that fed on dipterans. Call shape is FM/CF/FM, with F component of c.75-90 kHz recorded throughout their distribution, ranging from 75-7 kHz in the western part of the distribution to 86-5 kHz in the eastern end—a gradient that seems to be linked to annual rainfall. Pulse durations are 28-1-52-7 milliseconds. Terminal FM sweep of call becomes longer and wider in bandwidth when flying with conspecifics vs. flying alone. Other changes in calls of Cape Horseshoe Bat have been reported when flying with Natal Long-fingered Bats ( Miniopterus natalensis) and Geofffoy’s Horseshoe Bats. Cape Horseshoe Bats can readily distinguish between calls of conspecifics and those of Geoffroy’s Horseshoe Bats.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Although the Cape Horseshoe Bat is primarily sedentary, small-scale movements of 10 km have been reported. Reasons for these movements are uncertain, but they might be to escape extreme conditions in winter. Cape Horseshoe Bats hibernate through winter on occasion, but they do not enter a deep torpor, as does the Geoffroy’s Horseshoe Bat. Cape Horseshoe Bats roost in large colonies that rarely have more than 1000 individuals. Males and females roost together, and individuals roost in clusters of multiple individuals that do not generally make contact with one another. Cave roosts are shared relatively often with Geoffroy’s Horseshoe Bats and Natal Long-fingered Bats.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on 77ze IUCN Red List. The Cape Horseshoe Bat is considered common throughout its distribution and does not seem to have any major conservation threats. It might be declining in some areas due to roost disturbance and habitat loss from agricultural expansion.

Bibliography. ACR (2018), Ansell (1986), Bernard (1984,1985,1986a, 1986b, 2013a), Brown & Bernard (1994), Csorba eta/. (2003), Cumming & Bernard (1997), Erasmus & Rautenbach (1984), Fawcett eta /. (201'5), Jacobs & Monadjem (2017), Jacobs et a /. (2007), McDonald et a /. (1990a, 1990b), Monadjem, Taylor et a/. (2010), Odendaal & Jacobs (2011), Stoffberg (2008), Stoffberg eta/. (2010),Taylor, Macdonald eta /. (2018), Thomas & Jacobs (2013), Zhou Zhaomin eta/. (2009).

Figures

On following pages: 4. Lander's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus landeri); 5. Guinean Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus guineensis); 6. Blasius's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus blasii); 7. Peters's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus lobatus); 8. Swinny's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus swinnyi); 9. Cape Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus capensis); 10. Gorongosa Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus gorongosae); 11. Roberts's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus rhodesiae); 12. Bushveld Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus simulato/); 13. Dent's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus denti); 14. Cameroon Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus alticolus); 15. Mehely's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus mehelyi); 16. Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus euryale); 17. Hildebrandt's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hildebrandtii); 18. Mount Mabu Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus mabuensis); 19. Cohen's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus cohenae); 20. Smithers's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus smithersi); 21. Mozambican Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus mossambicus); 22. Rüppell's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus fumigatus); 23. Eloquent Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus Bloquons).

Distribution. South Africa in coastal Northern, Western, and Eastern Cape provinces. Possibly enters coastal SW Namibia , although this has yet to be confirmed; all other non-South African records are erroneous.