18. Mount Mabu Horseshoe Bat

Rhinolophus mabuensis

French: Rhinolophe du Mabu / German: Mabu-Hufeisennase / Spanish: Herradura del monte Mabu

Taxonomy. Rhinolophus mabuensis P. J. Taylor et al, 2012,

“ Mt Mabu, northern Mozambique, 16° 17’ 2”S; 36° 23’ 53”E; elevation 1043 m asl.”

Rhinolophus mabuensis is in the fumigatus species group; it was previously identified as R hildebrandtii, but recent genetic and morphological studies justified its separate species status. Rhinolophus mabuensis is in a clade including R hildebrandtii, R cohenae, and R smithersi. Monotypic.

Distribution. N Mozambique (Mt Inago and Mt Mabu) but possibly extending to nearby Mts Namuli, Chiperone, Mulanje, and Malawi Rift

Descriptive notes. Forearm 66- 1—69 mm. The Mount Mabu Horseshoe Bat is externally similar to Hildebrandt’s Horseshoe Bat (A hildebrandtii) but has larger external dimensions. Dorsal pelage of the Mount Mabu Horseshoe Bat is gray to grayish brown; venter is slighdy paler. There is no orange morph. Males lack axillary tufts. Ears are medium-long in length. Noseleafhas long subtriangular lancet, with straight or slighdy concave sides and rounded tip; connecting process is rounded and does not reach tip of sella (although connecting process forms continuous arch in a specimen from Mt Inago); sella is moderately covered in longish hairs and has concave sides near base but parallel sides near broad and rounded top; and horseshoe is broad at 10-15 mm, covers muzzle, has lateral leaflets, and has deeply notched median emargination. Lower lip has one groove. Wings and uropatagium are dark grayish brown. Skull is robust and comparatively long, with robust zygomatic arches and zygomatic width much larger than mastoid width; nasal swellings are relatively high and longer than they are broad; frontal depression is deep and well developed, and supraorbital ridges are well developed; and sagittal crest is well developed. Dental formula differs from the usual of 32 teeth of other species of Rhinolophus. 11/2, C 1/1, P 2/2, M 3/3 (x2) = 30. P2 is prominent and either in tooth row or fully displaced labially; C1 and P4 do not touch; and P3 is absent, allowing P2 and P4 to touch.

Habitat. Montane or submontane forests on the two mountains where they were collected at elevations of 1000-1043 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Call shape is FM/CF/FM, and F component is c.38 kHz.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCNRed List. There are only two known specimens of the Mount Mabu Horseshoe Bat, indicating it is difficult to find. Its distribution is presumably small, but it could be larger. Additional sampling is needed to clarify its conservation status.

Bibliography. ACR (2018),Taylor eta/. (2012).