Daubenton parchment wing bat
| Daubenton parchment wing bat | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Daubenton parchment wing bat ( Myopterus daubentonii ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Myopterus daubentonii | ||||||||||||
| Desmarest , 1820 |
The daubenton parchment-winged bat ( Myopterus daubentonii ) is found in West and Central Africa. The little researched bat species is only known from 23 specimens caught in Senegal, the Ivory Coast, the north of the Central African Republic and the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
description
The daubenton parchment wing bat is a medium-sized bulldog bat and reaches a total length of 10.4 to 12 cm, with the tail being 3.7 to 4.4 cm long. The wingspan is 35 to 38 cm, the weight of the animals is 20 to 22 g. Females are on average slightly larger than males. The hair of the animals is short (4 to 5 mm on the middle of the back). On the back, Daubenton's parchment wing bat is colored red-brown or gray-brown, usually with a whitish or light yellow, wide stripe on either side of the middle of the back. The neck and top of the head are also whitish or light yellow. The peritoneum is dirty white, cream-colored to whitish or pure white. The flight skin is whitish on the arm and transparent between the fingers with reddish veins and enclosed whitish fat droplets. The flight membrane between the thighs (interfemoral skin) is light brown above and white below. The skin of the forearms, lower legs, fingers and tail is pink.
| 1 | · | 1 | · | 1 | · | 3 | = 26 |
| 1 | · | 1 | · | 2 | · | 3 |
The head is large and sturdy, not flattened and largely hairless with the exception of the area between the upper lip and nose. The erect ears do not show any complicated folds. They form a V over the front of the head and are only partially pigmented on the outside, the inside is whitish. The rounded tragus is relatively large compared to that of other bulldog bats, the antitragus is almost round and roughly the same size as the tragus.
In the distribution area of the Daubenton parchment wing bat, there are four other bulldog bats without complicated ear folds. The Bini parchment- winged bat ( Myopterus whitleyi ), the African flat-headed bat ( Platymops setiger ) and an unspecified or previously undescribed Mormopterus species are, however, significantly smaller and Robert's flat-headed bat ( Sauromys petrophilus ) is a single-colored dark brown on the back.
Habitat and way of life
The Daubenton parchment wing bat occurs north of the African rainforest belt in savannas and in regions where small rainforests alternate with savannah like a mosaic and is probably rare. In the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo near Bunia , the species was caught in mountain meadows at an altitude of 1250 meters. Most of the known specimens were caught in tree hollows, where they rest in small groups of 5 to 10 animals during the day. So far, no more precise information is known about nutrition. The relatively broad wing tips of the animals could indicate that they are flying relatively slowly compared to that of other bulldog bats. The sturdy jaws and teeth indicate that they can also eat large, hard-shelled prey. Nothing is known about reproduction.
Systematics
The species was in 1820 by the French zoologist Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest described . In the very variable species, a distinction is made between two subspecies, the nominate form , M. daubentonii daubentonii , which is said to be restricted to Senegal, and M. daubentonii albatus for all populations east of Senegal.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Jakob Fahr: Myopterus daubentonii Daubenton's Winged-Mousebat, page 476-477 in Meredith Happold and David Happold (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume IV. Hedgehogs, Shrews and Bats . Bloomsbury, London, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4081-2254-9
