103.

Bini Winged-mouse Bat

Myopterus whitleyi

French: Tadaride de Whitley / German: Whitley-Bulldogfledermaus / Spanish: Miéptero de Whitley

Other common names: Bini Free-tailed Bat, Whitley's Winged-mouse Bat

Taxonomy. Mormopterus whitleyi Scharff, 1900,

“ Benin City [Nigeria] in West Africa.”

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. Patchily distributed in W, C & E Africa, from Ghana E through parts of Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, and DR Congo to S Uganda; conspicuously absent from C Congo Basin, but occurs around the periphery.

Descriptive notes. Head-body c¢.53-56 mm, tail 25-31 mm, ear 14-16 mm, hindfoot 5-8 mm, forearm 35-37 mm; weight 10-12 g. Fur is short and dark brown above, without stripes; dirty white, cream or pure white below, with no mid-ventral markings but with white flank-stripe. Skin of forearm, tibia, fingers and tail is dark pink. Wings have yellowish-white arm-wing membranes and transparent hand-wing membranes. Tail membrane is gray or pale brown above, whitish below. Upper lip is smooth without wrinkles, with dense patch of spoon-hairs. Ears are erect, narrow, pointed, without complex folds, and well separated, and apex is unpigmented. Tragus is large for a molossid, squarish, and same size as antitragus and not concealed by it. There is no interaural crest, and gular sac is present in males. Anterior palatal emargination is closed and basisphenoid pits are very deep and wide. M? has N-shaped cusps with third ridge absent or vestigial. Anterior premolaris absent and there is only one incisor on each side, bicuspid in shape.

Habitat. Tropical moist lowland forest.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Bini Winged-mouse Bats have been recorded roosting on the bark of a tree, among the leaves of plantains, and in the roof of a rubber-packing shed.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Bini Winged-mouse Bat is seemingly solitary.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Bini Winged-mouse Bat is probably threatened to some extent by logging activities and general conversion of forest to agricultural land.

Bibliography. ACR (2017), Brosset & Vuattoux (1968), Fahr (2013t), Monadjem et al. (2015).