Kerivoula phalaena Thomas 1912
Creators
- 1. All Out Africa Research Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Swaziland, Private Bag 4, Kwaluseni, Swaziland
- 2. School of Biological and Conservation Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, Republic of South Africa
- 3. All Out Africa, P. O. Box 153, Lobamba, Swaziland
- 4. Département d'Ecologie et Evolution, Université de Lausanne, Biophore 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- 5. Evolutionary Genomics Group, Department of Botany and Zoology, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X 1, Matieland, Stellenbosch, Republic of South Africa
- 6. Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust (MMCT), P. O. Box 139, Mulanje, Malawi & Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- 7. AEON - Africa Earth Observatory Network, Departments of Geological Sciences, and Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, Republic of South Africa
- 8. Institute of Biogeography, University of Basel, St. Johanns-Vorstadt 10, CH- 4056, Switzerland Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, HIF C 13, Wolfgang-Pauli-Str. 15, CH- 8093 Zurich, Switzerland Durban Natural Science Museum, P. O. Box 4085, Durban, Republic of South Africa Department of Ecology and Resource Management, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Venda, Private Bag X 5050, Thohoyandou, 0950, Republic of South Africa Corresponding author: E-mail: ara @ uniswacc. uniswa. sz
- 9. Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, HIF C 13, Wolfgang-Pauli-Str. 15, CH- 8093 Zurich, Switzerland 11 Durban Natural Science Museum, P. O. Box 4085, Durban, Republic of South Africa
Description
Kerivoula cf. phalaena Thomas 1912
A single adult male of this species was recorded in mid-altitude forest on Mount Mabu. It is smaller than the two Southern African species, K. lanosa and K. argentata. The species may be undescribed, or may represent a new record of an existing species (not previously recorded in Southern Africa). The two candidate species in Africa that match the overall size and coloration of this enigmatic specimen are Kerivoula africana Dobson 1878 and K. phalaena Thomas 1912. However, the distinction between these two species is unclear based on the original species descriptions. Hayman and Hill (1971) discern the two species based on pelage coloration and the number of cusps on the inner, upper incisors (bicuspid in K. africana and unicuspid in K. phalaena). However, these characters are inconclusive in the Mount Mabu specimen. The specimen exhibits a dark brown coloration both dorsally and ventrally, lacking characteristic grizzling, and has a conspicuous secondary cusp on the inner, upper incisor. However, cranial and external measurements are larger than reported for K. africana, and other dental and cranial characters differ (and are more similar to K. phalaena). Therefore the specimen may represent an undescribed species, but this requires confirmation with an appropriate sample size of comparative specimens. In any case, this Mount Mabu specimen represents a most interesting discovery for Mozambique, and the first record of a Kerivoula species in the africana / phalaena group for Southern Africa as defined by Monadjem et al. (2010).
Field measurements: FA (adult male) 27.5 (1), BM (adult male) 3.5 (1)
Notes
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Linked records
Additional details
Identifiers
Biodiversity
- Family
- Vespertilionidae
- Genus
- Kerivoula
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Scientific name authorship
- Thomas
- Species
- phalaena
- Taxon rank
- species
- Taxonomic concept label
- Kerivoula phalaena Thomas, 1912 sec. Monadjem, Schoeman, Reside, Io, Stoffberg, Bayliss, Cotterill, Curran, Kopp & Taylor, 2010
References
- HAYMAN, R. W., and J. E. HILL, 1971. Order Chiroptera. In The mammals of Africa. An identification manual. Part 2. (J. MEESTER and H. W. SETZER, eds.). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D. C., 1 - 73.
- MONADJEM, A., P. J. TAYLOR, F. P. D. COTTERILL, and M. C. SCHOEMAN. 2010. Bats of Southern and Central Africa: a biogeographic and taxonomic synthesis. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 596 pp.