Zenker's harlequin fruit bat
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Zenker's harlequin fruit bat ( Scotonycteris zenkeri ) |
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| Scotonycteris zenkeri | ||||||||||||
| Matschie , 1894 |
Zenker's harlequin fruit bat ( Scotonycteris zenkeri ) is a fruit bat that occurs in the West African rainforest belt in a disjoint distribution area from Liberia to the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo .
description
Zenker's harlequin flying fox is a very small type of flying fox and has a head-to-trunk length of 6.5 to 8.5 cm, the wingspan ranges from 33 to 37 cm, and the weight is between 16 and 24 g. Characteristic of the species are white spots on the nose and behind the eyes and whitish or light lips. Similar white head markings only show two other African flying foxes, the snake- toothed harlequin flying fox ( Casinycteris ophiodon ) and the golden short- palate flying fox ( Casinycteris argynnis ). Both species grow larger and have yellowish finger joints.
The fur of Zenker's harlequin flying fox is dense, soft and woolly on the back. The hair on the middle of the back is 9 to 10 mm long. The belly hair is shorter, less dense and stiff. The animals are brown to red-brown on the back, dark brown to gray-brown on the sides and light gray to whitish on the belly. Epaulettes (white or yellowish tufts of hair on the shoulders of the males) are missing. The flight skin is brown to dark brown-greenish.
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The ears of Zenker's harlequin flying fox are dark brown (lighter at the base), hairless and rounded at the tip. The tail is so short that it is not visible from the outside. The skull is rounded, the muzzle short. The upper incisors are of medium length, with secondary points or a sawn inner edge.
Habitat and way of life
Zenker's harlequin fruit bat occurs in primary and secondary lowland rainforests, in swamp forests, mountain rainforests, mangrove forests and sometimes also in forest savannas and in regions where small rainforests alternate with savannahs like a mosaic. In general, it is rare to very rare. So far, no more precise information is known about nutrition. The animals feed mainly on fruits. Captive specimens also ate flowers and drank honey water. Zenker's harlequin fruit bat rests individually. Females usually give birth to a single, more rarely two young animals.
Systematics
Genus and species were in 1894 by the zoologist Matschie described . In 1943 a second species was added to the genus with the snake-toothed harlequin fruit bat. In 2014 the genus became monotypical , as Alexandre Hassanin moved the snake-toothed harlequin fruit bat to Casinycteris (short-palate fruit bat). In 2015, Hassanin published the results of a DNA study in which Scotonycteris bergmansi was described as a new species and Scotonycteris occidentalis was raised to species status.
In 2013, Jakob Fahr distinguished three subspecies with the nominate form :
- Scotonycteris zenkeri zenkeri , Eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Mainland Equatorial Guinea
- Scotonycteris zenkeri bedfordi , Bioko .
- Scotonycteris zenkeri occidentalis : Liberia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Jakob Fahr: Scotonycteris zenkeri Zenker's Fruit Bats, pages 297–299 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
- ^ A. Hassanin: Description of a new bat species of the tribe Scotonycterini (Chiroptera, Pteropodidae) from southwestern Cameroon. Comptes Rendus Biologies 337 (2), 2014, pp. 134-142 doi: 10.1016 / j.crvi.2013.12.006 .
- ↑ A. Hassanin, S. Khouider, G.-C. Gembu, SM Goodman, B. Kadjo, N. Nesi, X. Pourrut, E. Nakouné, C. Bonillo: The comparative phylogeography of fruit bats of the tribe Scotonycterini (Chiroptera, Pteropodidae) reveals cryptic species diversity related to African Pleistocene forest refugia . Comptes Rendus Biologie s 338 (3), 2015, pp. 197-211. doi : 10.1016 / j.crvi.2014.12.003
