Kerivoula africana Dobson 1878

319.

Tanzanian Woolly Bat

Kerivoula africana

French: Kérivoule de Tanzanie / German: Tansania-Wollfledermaus / Spanish: Querivoula de Tanzania

Taxonomy. Kerivoula africana Dobson, 1878,

“Fast coast of Africa (Zanzibar),” Tanzania.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. Restricted to E Tanzania, where it has only been recorded from Morogoro and Genda Genda and Tong’ omba coastal forests.

Descriptive notes. Head-body ¢. 35 mm, tail 34 mm, ear 13 mm, hindfoot 6 mm, forearm 28 mm (type specimen). Fur is woolly and frizzled. Dorsal pelage is grayish brown to brownish gray, sometimes with silvery gray streaks; hairs are dark brown to black, with grayish brown tips. Dorsal pelage extends onto membrane close to body. Ventral pelage is slightly paler. Wings and uropatagium are dark brown. Head has narrow muzzle and high-domed crown. Face is nearly naked between eyes. Long hairsarise from glands and muzzle. Upperlip has fringe of hairs. Ears are widely separated, funnelshaped, and pale brown, tragus is long, tapering, and sharply pointed. Eyes are minute. Skull has high-domed cranium, and frontal region is sharply angular to plane of rostrum as in other species of Kerivoula. I? is bicuspid; I’ is unicuspid or bicuspid, almost reaching height of I% P? and P? are subequal and smaller than P*1is unicuspid; and lower premolars are subequal.

Habitat. Evergreen and semi-evergreen coastal forests on hills near Tanzanian coast.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. Three pregnant Tanzanian Woolly Bats were captured in mid-October.

Activity patterns. Single reported roost was ¢.2: 5 m aboveground inside hanging epiphytes in thicket forest.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. A male and three female Tanzanian Woolly Bats were found roosting together.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. The Tanzanian Woolly Bat has a very small population in a well-surveyed area, and habitats in its area of occurrence have been destroyed very rapidly.

Bibliography. ACR (2017), Cockle etal. (1998), Happold, M. (2013bp).