Epomophorus labiatus Temminck 1837

Epomophorus labiatus Temminck 1837, Monogr. Mamm., Vol. 2: 83.

Type Locality: Sudan, Blue Nile Prov., Sennar.

Vernacular Names: Little Epauletted Fruit Bat.

Synonyms: Epomophorus anurus Heuglin 1864; Epomophorus doriae Matscheie 1899; Epomophorus schoensis Rüppell 1842; Epomophorus schovanus Heuglin 1877 .

Distribution: Saudi Arabia; Nigeria to Ethiopia and Djibouti, south to Republic of Congo and Malawi. Senegal records are probably erroneous (see Bergmans, 1988).

Conservation: IUCN / SSC Action Plan (1992) – Not Threatened. IUCN 2003 – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: gambianus species group. Includes anurus; see Kock (1969 a), Bergmans (1988, 1997), and Claessen and De Vree (1991). Koopman (1994) recognized two subspecies ( labiatus and anurus), but this arrangement does not appear justified given the morphometric data presented by Claessen and De Vree (1991), who did not recognize subspecies. Apparently does not include minor contra Claessen and De Vree (1991), see discussion in Bergmans (1988, 1997). Middle Eastern forms reviewed by Horácek et al. (2000).