Epomops dobsonii ( Bocage, 1889 )

Cakenberghe, Victor Van, Tungaluna, Guy-Crispin Gembu, Akawa, Prescott Musaba, Seamark, Ernest & Verheyen, Erik, 2017, The bats of the Congo and of Rwanda and Burundi revisited (Mammalia: Chiroptera), European Journal of Taxonomy 382 (382), pp. 1-327 : 14-16

Epomops dobsonii ( Bocage, 1889)

Fig 5 C–D

Epomophorus Dobsonii Bocage, 1889: 1 .

* Epomops dobsoni ( Bocage, 1889)

Bergmans (1989: 89) suggested that a number of cranial characters (e.g., the pterygoid wing morphology, the post dental palate and palatal ridges) of E. dobsonii are rather atypical for an Epomops and show more resemblance with Epomophorus , suggesting that the original generic assignment by Bocage might be correct. He nevertheless kept the species in Epomops . However, very recently a phylogenetic study

by Almeida et al. (2016: 83) showed that dobsonii is most closely related to Epomophorus wahlbergi and these authors transferred the species to the genus Epomophorus .

Distributionwise, E. dobsonii was reported by Hayman et al. (1966: 24, map 9) from the extreme southern part of the DRC (provinces of Haut-Katanga and Lualaba). Further material from these provinces is reported in this paper, but also some records from Haut-Lomami Province (near the Upemba National Park), and from Kasende (MCZ 31738; near Kananga in Kasaï-Central Province). The specimens from Rwanda (Shangi Schad, RMCA 85.006-M-0463 and Rubona, RMCA 16037) extend the distribution range of the species. Bergmans (1979), who already reported on the latter specimen, indicated that this extension was not beyond the already known vegetation types: mopane and miombo woodlands, and the Central African rain forest block.

Figures

Fig. 5. Distribution maps. A–B. Epomophorus wahlbergi (Sundevall, 1846). C–D. Epomops dobsonii (Bocage, 1889). E–F. Epomops franqueti (Tomes, 1860). A, C, E. Distribution in the CRB area. B, D, F. Pan-African distribution.