Mops (Xiphonycteris) thersites (Thomas, 1903)

Mongombe, Aaron Manga, Fils, Eric Moise Bakwo & Tamesse, Joseph Lebel, 2020, Annotated checklist of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of Mount Cameroon, southwestern Cameroon, Zoosystema 42 (24), pp. 483-514 : 505-506

Mops (Xiphonycteris) thersites (Thomas, 1903)

( Table 3 )

Nyctinomus thersites Thomas, 1903: 634 .

COMMON NAME. — English: Railer Mops Bat. French: Tadaride de Railer.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 2 specimens (including original data). Other localities of Cameroon • 1 specimen; Bipindi; Zenker Georg August leg.; ZMB T10542 .

ORIGINAL DATA. — During our field surveys, a single individual ( Table 1 ) attributed to this species was capture over a slow flowing stream at an altitude of 470 m a.s.l. This specimen was the first recorded from the Mount Cameroon area, but this species had previously been recorded from Sahelian zone of northern Cameroon ( Bakwo Fils et al. 2014). We did not examine any museum specimens.

DIAGNOSIS. — This specimen possesses the characteristic dark colored wings and conspicuous blackish flanks below wings between the leg and arm described by Patterson & Webala (2012) and Happold (2013i as Tadarida thersites ). Other features mentioned by Happold (2013i) are also typical such as a forearm length of 35 to 42 mm. The external and skull measurements are provided in Table 3 and Table 4 , respectively.

HABITATS AND DISTRIBUTION. — This species has been widely recorded from much of western and Central Africa ( Happold 2013i). It has been recorded mostly from lowland rainforest and secondary forest, but also occurs in mesic savannah and adjacent grassland habitats ( Monadjem et al. 2010; Happold 2013i). It roosts in small groups in tree hollows, under roof of houses and cracks of building ( Happold 1987; Monadjem et al. 2010).