Plerotes anchietae (Seabra, 1900)

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Pteropodidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 16-162 : 94

57.

Broad-faced Fruit Bat

Plerotes anchietae

French: Plérote dAnchieta / German: Anchieta-Breitgesichtflughund / Spanish: Plerotes de Anchieta

Other common names: Anchieta’s Broad-faced Fruit Bat, Benguela Fruit Bat, D’Anchieta’s Fruit Bat

Taxonomy. Epomophorus anchietae Seabra, 1900 ,

Galanga, Benguela, Angola.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. C Africa, from C Angola, through S DR Congo and NE Zambia to N Malawi.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 70-96 mm (tailless), ear 15-18 mm, hindfoot 10- 12 mm, forearm 45-3-52- 5 mm; weight 20 g. The Broad-faced Fruit Batis yellowish, with no calcar, broad palate, and reduced dentition. Muzzle is long and tapering, with white mustache and beard. Nostrils are not tubular and separated by median furrow, with paved epidermis widely connected to upperlip. Eyes are large;irises are brown. Ears are large and rounded, with white tufts at their bases. Pelage on head and dorsum is soft, short, and light yellowish brown, lighter and grayer or whitish on chest and belly. Only known adult male has ruff of slightly thickened hairs, which is absent on females. There is white humeral spot at base of hairy propatagium and less conspicuous spot on dorsum of thumb. Thumb is very long. Wing membranes are reddish brown and attached on sides of body and to second toes. Tibia is hairy dorsally and more rufous. There is no tail. Uropatagium is reduced to very narrow strip. Skull is delicate, with very little basicranial deflection, long and tapering rostrum, large orbit, thin zygomatic arches, small postorbital processes with postorbital foramen, and globose braincase. Palate is very wide, with arched tooth rows and post-dental extension. Palatal ridges are thin, with four smooth interdental ridges, and posterior ridges serrated and divided medially. Tongue is wide and covered with filiform papillae on anterior one-quarter. Mandible is very thin, coronoid is weak and relatively tall, and condyle and angle are rounded. Dental formulas 12/2 C1/1,P3/3,M 1/2 (x2).= 30, but M2and M, are occasionally present (peg-like), and incisors are occasionally missing. Dentition is weak; incisors are almost peg-like; canines are thin,slightly decurved, and laterally diverging; I' is reduced to spicules; and cheekteeth generally have very low and little developed ridges, exceedingly narrow.

Habitat. Wet Zambezian miombo woodland dominated by Brachystegia , Julbernardia , and Isoberlinia (all Fabaceae ) and mosaic of Zambezian dry evergreen forests and wetter miombo woodlands at elevations of 1000-2000 m.

Food and Feeding. Small body size, long face hairs, wide palate, tongue papillae, and generally weak dentition of the Broad-faced Fruit Bat suggest specialized feeding, likely on flower products and soft fruit.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Malawi specimens of the Broadfaced Fruit Bat were captured when flying together just before dawn. The few specimens available were captured alone or in pairs, suggesting solitary or limited gregarious habits.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. The Broadfaced Fruit Bat is rare and might be threatened by habitat loss outside parks. No conservation actions are in place. It occurs in Nyika National Park in northern Malawi and Upemba National Park in DR Congo.

Bibliography. Aimeida, FC. et al. (2016), Andersen (1912b), Bergmans (1989), Bergmans & Sowler (1992b), Harrison (1960), Hayman et al. (1966), Kock et al. (1998), Mickleburgh, Hutson, Bergmans, Fahr, Chitaukali & Cotterill (2008), Monadjem, Taylor et al. (2010), White (1983).

Figures

50. Western Woermann’s Fruit Bat (Megaloglossus azagnyi), 51. Eastern Woermann’s Fruit Bat (Megaloglossus woermanni), 52. Angolan Soft-furred Fruit Bat (Lissonycteris angolensis), 53. Little Collared Fruit Bat (Myonycteris torquata), 54. Sao Tome Collared Fruit Bat (Myonycteris brachycephala), 55. Sierra Leone Collared Fruit Bat (Myonycteris leptodon), 56. Bergmans’s Collared Fruit Bat (Myonycteris relicta), 57. Broad-faced Fruit Bat (Plerotes anchietae), 58. Hammer-headed Fruit Bat (Hypsignathus monstrosus), 59. Franquet’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomops franqueti), 60. Buttikofer’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomops buettikoferi), 61. Veldkamp’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Nanonycteris veldkampr), 62. Gambian Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus gambianus), 63. Peters’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus erypturus), 64. Angolan Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus angolensis), 65. Little Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus labiatus), 66. Minor Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus minor), 67. Ansell’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus anselli), 68. Wahlberg's Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus wahlbergi), 69. Dobson’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus dobsonu), 70. Sanborn’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus grands), 71. Lesser Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus pusillus), 72. Hayman’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus intermedius)

Distribution. C Africa, from C Angola , through S DR Congo and NE Zambia to N Malawi .