Chaerephon pumilus (Cretzschmarı 1830)

Benda, P., Kasso, M., Nicolas, V., Pleurdeau, D., Stoetzel, E., Workalemahu, S., Bekele, A. & Denys, C., 2019, New data on bats from Dire Dawa regionı eastern Ethiopiaı with the first record of Rhinopoma microphyllum in the country, Journal of Natural History 53 (41), pp. 2579-2590 : 2586

Chaerephon pumilus (Cretzschmarı 1830) – little free-tailed bat

Material. 1 ♀ juv (DDW04), Dire Dawa, at the Lega Hare River , 09°36 ʹ N, 41°53 ʹ E, 1212 m a. s. l., 18/11/2017 . – 1 ³ ad (DDW17), Dire Dawa, Toni Farm (Dire Dawa University ), 09°37 ʹ N, 41°50 ʹ E, 1148 m a. s. l., 21/11/2017 .

Two specimens of the little free-tailed bat were collected in agricultural areas adjacent to Dire Dawa town. This species belongs to one of the most common bats in various savannah zones of Africa ( Happold 2013b); with the exceptions of true deserts and true forests, it is distributed widely across Ethiopia ( Largen et al. 1974). C. pumilus was also repeatedly recorded in broader region of the eastern Chercher Mountains, viz. Haramaya, Babile, Errer valley, Harar ( Largen et al. 1974; Demeter and Topál 1982; Lavrenchenko et al. 2010). Measurements of the specimens collected at Dire Dawa are as follows (DDW04/DDW17): weight 9.0/ 10.2 g, head and body length 87/ 70 mm, tail length 27/ 36 mm, forearm length 39/ 40 mm, ear length 17/ 15 mm, largest skull length 16.25/ 17.35 mm, condylobasal length 15.18/ 16.29 mm, zygomatic width 10.18/ 10.47 mm, neurocranium width 8.05/ 8.15 mm, neurocranium height 5.41/ 6.19 mm, length of upper tooth-row 6.31/ 6.51 mm. These values conform to the measurement ranges known for the species (see, e.g. Lavrenchenko et al. 2004; Happold 2013b).