Nycteris hispida (Schreber, 1774)

Hairy slit-faced bat

Vespertilio hispidus Schreber, 1774: 169, 188; Senegal.

New material

HZM.52.40188, ♂, 4 August, 2012, Waterfall forest, Lekoumou, 2°45.545’S, 13°36.342’E. Previous records included in Appendix I; the known distribution corresponds to localities 15, 24, 26, 29, and 31 in Fig. 1. This is one of the most common nycterids in Africa (Happold and Happold, 2013).

Description

A very small species of slit-faced bat with a forearm length of 35.8 mm. The face is characterised by a noseleaf which comprises two flaps of skin, which give the impression of a slit running down the length of the muzzle. For Nycteris, the ears of this species are relatively short and the tragus has a smooth, curved, outer margin (Fig. 7C). The skull is short (damaged in this specimen) and the upper toothrow (C–M 3) is 5.58 mm in length. Both the upper and lower incisors are trifid (Fig. 7A and B). The posterior lower premolar is small (Fig. 7A). The baculum is 3.0 mm in length and characteristically hooked at the tip, with a slender, curved shaft and a slightly bilobate base (Fig. 7D); for comparison with other African Nycteris taxa see Thomas et al. (1994) and Happold and Happold (2013).

Taxonomic notes

Specimens from Congo are referred to the nominate subspecies (Van Cakenberghe and De Vree, 1993; Happold and Happold, 2013).