Rhinolophus landeri Martin 1838

Rhinolophus landeri Martin, 1838

(Fig. 12, Table 3)

Rhinolophus landeri Martin, 1838: 101.

COMMON NAME. — Lander’s Horseshoe Bat. French: Rhinolophe de Lander.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 24 specimens (including original data).

Mount Cameroon area • 12 ♀♀, 7 ♂♂; Buea; 4°09’00”N; 9°12’00”E; 1050 m; 14.III.1938; Martin Eisentraut leg.; SMNS 3455 to 3457, 5124, 5592 to 5595, 5123 to 5133, ZMB 78447, 78448, 93809 to 93812 • 1♀; Victoria; 4°00’46”N, 9°13’13”E; 136 m; 29.IV.1954; Martin Eisentraut leg.; SMNS 5122 • 1 ♀; Bimbia; 3°57’16”N, 9°14’42”E; 98 m; 4.II.1938; Martin Eisentraut leg.; SMNS 5592 to 5598.

ORIGINAL DATA. — Three individuals of this species were captured during our surveys (Table 1). One was mist-netted in a fallow farmland at an altitude of 1140 m a.s.l, while the other two were captured in primary forest at an altitude of 1070 m a.s.l.

HABITATS AND DISTRIBUTION. — At Mount Cameroon, this cave dependent species had previously been recorded at altitudes up to 1250 m a.s.l. (Fedden & MacLeod 1986), who also noted that this species inhabits both disturbed forest fringes and montane forest. Eisentraut (1963) also recorded this species in the lowland forest of Mount Cameroon at Bimbia and Limbe area, and in a cave at Buea. This species principally inhabits lowland rainforest, but has also been recorded in savannah and gallery forest (Happold 2013d), where they roost in small groups in caves, hollow trees and mine shafts (Monadjem et al. 2010). This species has a broad sub-Saharan African distribution from West Africa through Central Africa to East Africa (Taylor et al. 2018).

REMARK. — Recent molecular studies showed that the southern and eastern African savannah-dwelling Rhinolophus landeri is distinct from West African forest populations. As such the southern and eastern African populations have been assigned to a distinct species Rhinolophus lobatus Peters, 1852 (Taylor et al. 2018).