Rousettus aegyptiacus (E. Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, 1810)

Fig. 9 A–B

Pteropus Egyptiacus E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1810: 96.

* Rousettus aegyptiacus leachi (Smith, 1823): 433.

Happold (2013d: 290) distinguishes four African subspecies in R. aegyptiacus, of which leachii occurs from NE DRC to Ethiopia and southwards to South Africa, as well as on the islands of Pemba, Zanzibar and Mafia. A second subspecies, unicolor (Gray, 1870), occurs from Senegal to Cameroon, Bioko Island, and southwards to Angola. Bergmans (1994: 91) indicates that in leachii, a weaker skull and dentition, as compared to the typical subspecies, justifies the separation as a subspecies, but he also indicates that the variation within leachii is very large and that it would be worth examining a larger series from over its entire distribution area. Hayman & Hill (1971: 12) furthermore mention that the morphological and geographic limits of aegyptiacus and leachii are not yet clear, and intergrading may occur in the equatorial zone.

The distribution information provided by Hayman et al. (1966: 30, map 17) suggested that R. aegyptiacus only occurred along the eastern border of the DRC (Ituri, Nord- and Sud-Kivu Provinces) and in the extreme south (Haut-Katanga Province) and the extreme west (Kongo Central Province). However, RBINS 12932 and 12933, reported by Hayman et al. (1966: 30) and Bergmans (1994: 90) from Kivu, were actually from Buta (Bas-Uélé Province; Tom Geerinckx, pers. comm.). More recently collected specimens further extend the occurrence of this species to the west of the DRC (Kisangani, Boende). These records indicate that two subspecies might occur in CRB: leachii in the eastern part of the DRC and in Rwanda and Burundi, and unicolor in the western part of the country. The subspecific assignment of the specimens from the intermediairy localities remains uncertain.