Laephotis, THOMAS, 1901

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 : 14-15

LAEPHOTIS THOMAS, 1901

Synonymy

Vespertilio A. Smith, 1829 (part, not Linnaeus, 1758).

Hypsugo Kolenati, 1860 (part, not Kolenati, 1856).

Scotophilus Thomas, 1861 (part, not Leach, 1821).

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

Vesperus Jentink, 1887 (part, not Keyserling & Blasius, 1839).

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

Scabrifer G.M. Allen, 1908 .

Rhinopterus G.M. Allen, 1939 (part, not Miller, 1906).

Pipistrellus Heller & Volleth, 1984 (part, not Kaup, 1829).

Nycterikaupius (part, not Menu, 1987).

Neoromicia Volleth et al., 2001 (part, not Roberts, 1926).

Complete synonymic histories for the species of Laephotis are given in the African Chiroptera report ( AfricanBats NPC, 2019).

Description: This genus was originally created for the species Laephotis wintoni Thomas, 1901 , with the name referring to the large ‘sail-like’ ears of that species. A second, closely related species with large ears was described a quarter of a century later, Lae. angolensis Monard 1935 , and two more species by Setzer in 1971: Lae. botswanae and Lae. namibensis . The baculum (1.5–2.0 mm in length) of Laephotis as defined herein is shorter than in Pseudoromicia and similar in length to that of Neoromicia and Afronycteris . It has a characteristic shape, with a bilobed base, straight shaft and a spatulate tip that is at an angle of ~45° to the shaft ( Fig. 5A ).

Based on our genetic and morphometric analyses presented above, we have expanded further this genus to include the following species: Lae. capensis (A. Smith, 1829) , Lae. matroka (Thomas & Schwann, 1905) , Lae. robertsi ( Goodman et al., 2012) , Lae. malagasyensis (Peterson et al., 1995) and Lae. stanleyi ( Goodman et al., 2017) .

Laephotis is readily distinguished by its bacular morphology ( Hill & Harrison, 1987). It is easily separated from Afronycteris based on external features (for details, see the account of Afronycteris ). This genus may also be distinguished from Neoromicia by its larger size. Furthermore, the cranium is more robust in Laephotis and obviously flattened compared with Neoromicia and Pseudoromicia . Laephotis also lacks the white wings of Pseudoromicia and is mostly associated with arid savannas and grasslands. Of the nine species that we recognize in this genus, all except the one we describe here are restricted to eastern and southern Africa and Madagascar, and none is associated with rainforests of tropical Africa.

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.