Rhinolophus alcyone Temminck 1852

Rhinolophus alcyone Temminck, 1852

Halcyon horseshoe bat

Rhinolophus alcyone Temminck 1852: 80; Boutry River, Gold Coast (Ghana).

New material

HZM.15.40192, ♀, and HZM.16.40193, ♂, 7 August, 2012, Forest Corridor, Lekoumou, 3°25.578’S, 12°45.670’E. Previous records are included in Appendix I; the known distribution in Congo corresponds to localities 5, 6, 9, 10, and 29 in Fig. 1. According to Happold and Happold (2013), its abundance in Africa is uncertain; it is rarely collected.

Description

A medium horseshoe bat with a forearm length of 52.9, 53.0 mm (Table 2). The first phalanx of the third finger is relatively short (16.3, 17.9 mm); the second phalanx (27.0, 27.8 mm) is relatively long; the third metacarpal is 38.6, 38.7 mm in length. In the noseleaf, the horseshoe is broad with virtually no indication of a supplementary leaflet; the lancet has a rounded tip and is essentially straight-sided in one specimen and with slightly concave margins in the other. The sella has a shallow median constriction and a widely rounded anterior border; the superior connecting process is bluntly pointed (Fig. 4). There is one clearly defined groove in the lower lip. The skull is robust with a skull length (SL) of 22.82, 23.35 mm (Table 3). The anterior median compartments of the rostrum are well developed; the frontal depression is shallow. The canines are strong; the first upper premolar (P 2) is relatively well developed and lies within the toothrow. The second lower premolar (P 3) is small, but not minute, and also lies within the toothrow. The baculum is 3.3 mm in length and very distinctive (Fig. 4). It has a thin, cylindrical shaft with a slightly expanded tip; the base is slightly bilobate and broad, when viewed laterally, and is deeply hollowed out, when viewed from below.

Taxonomic notes

Currently there are no recognised subspecies (Csorba et al., 2003; Happold and Happold, 2013).