Rhinolophus eloquens K. Andersen, 1905

Cakenberghe, Victor Van, Tungaluna, Guy-Crispin Gembu, Akawa, Prescott Musaba, Seamark, Ernest & Verheyen, Erik, 2017, The bats of the Congo and of Rwanda and Burundi revisited (Mammalia: Chiroptera), European Journal of Taxonomy 382 (382), pp. 1-327 : 38

Rhinolophus eloquens K. Andersen, 1905

Fig. 15 C–D

Rhinolophus Hildebrandti eloquens K. Andersen, 1905: 74 .

* Rhinolophus hildebrandti eloquens Andersen 1905 .

Although described as a subspecies of hildebrandtii , eloquens was widely accepted to represent a separate species, already beginning with Andersen (1905: 660; 1907: 31, 34), and further Allen (1939), Koopman (1975: 389), Simmons (2005: 354) and Cotterill (2013a: 323). However, some authors, such as Hayman & Hill (1971: 22), placed eloquens in R. fumigatus , whereas Kock (1969: 121) considered it a subspecies of R. aethiops (which is currently also considered a synonym of fumigatus ). Cotterill (2013a: 324) indicates that eloquens can be distinguished from either fumigatus and hildebrandtii by its size, but the dimensions show a considerable overlap (see key).

The map presented by Cotterill (2013a: 324) shows a very restricted distribution in eastern Africa, with occurrences in Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and extreme northeastern DRC. This agrees very well with the distribution we postulate, although we believe it might also occur in southern Ethiopia.

Figures

Fig. 15. Distribution maps. A–B. Rhinolophus clivosus Cretzschmar, 1826. C–D. Rhinolophus eloquens K. Andersen, 1905. E–F. Rhinolophus fumigatus Rüppell, 1842. A, C, E. Distribution in the CRB area. B, D, F. Pan-African distribution.