Glauconycteris atra, Dobson, 1875

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Vespertilionidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 716-981 : 834

155.

Blackish Butterfly Bat

Glauconycteris atra

French: Glauconyctere sombre / German: Schwarzliche Schmetterlingsfledermaus / Spanish: Glauconicterio negruzco

Taxonomy. Glauconycteris atra Hassanin et al., 2018 ,

“Yaengo, Tshopo Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo: 0.34887°N; 24.48200°E; 400 m above sea level (a.s.l.).”

A. Hassanin and colleagues in 2018 retrieved G. atra as sister to a clade including G. cf. humeralis and G. cf. beatrix and these three as sister to G. humeralis . Monotypic.

Distribution. Known only from three localities (Yaengo, Yatolema, and Yoko) on left bank of Congo River, NC DR Congo.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 45-6-55-8 mm, tail 39-4—42-6 mm, ear 10-11 mm, forearm 34-5-37-8 mm; weight 6-9-7-7 g (males) and 8:5-8-7 g (females). Males are apparently slightly smaller and darker than females. Dorsal fur is blackish brown and without any white markings. Mid-dorsal hairs are 6-8 mm long. Ventral fur is paler. Dorsal fur extends onto plagiopatagium along proximal one-half of humerus and femur and onto uropatagium along proximal one-half oftail. Ears are blackish brown, separated, short, and rounded. Inner margin of tragus is straight or slightly curved, and outer margin is well rounded. Wings and uropatagium are blackish brown and not reticulated. Naked skin around muzzle and eyes is blackish brown. Tibia is of medium length (16-3— 17-9 mm) for Glauconycteris . Skull is larger compared with related species, and profile of forehead is moderately concave. Braincase is comparatively high. I? is strongly bicuspid, with outer cusp smaller than inner cusp.I, is tricuspid, and I, and I, have four cusps.

Habitat. Riparian forests along Congo River at elevations of 400-460 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. A lactating Blackish Butterfly Bat was captured in December.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red Lust.

Bibliography. Hassanin et al. (2018).

Figures

144. Variegated Butterfly Bat (Glauconycteris variegata), 145. Machado’s Butterfly Bat (Glauconycteris machadoi), 146. Glen's Butterfly Bat (Glauconycteris gleni), 147. Pied Butterfly Bat (Glauconycteris superba), 148. Common Butterfly Bat (Glauconycteris argentata), 149. Bibundi Butterfly Bat (Glauconycteris egeria), 150. Abo Butterfly Bat (Glauconycteris poensts), 151. Striped Butterfly Bat (Glauconycteris alboguttata), 152. Beatrix’s Butterfly Bat (Glauconycteris beatrix), 153. Curry’s Butterfly Bat (Glauconycteris curryae), 154. Spotted Butterfly Bat (Glauconycteris humeralis), 155. Blackish Butterfly Bat (Glauconycteris atra), 156. Kenyan Butterfly Bat (Glauconycteris kenyacola), 157. Doria’s False Serotine (Hesperoptenus doriae), 158. Tickell’s False Serotine (Hesperoptenus tickelli), 159. Blanford’s False Serotine (Hesperoptenus blanfordi), 160. Large False Serotine (Hesperoptenus tomesi), 161. Gaskell’s False Serotine (Hesperoptenus gaskelli), 162. Great Evening Bat (Ia io), 163. Harlequin Bat (Scotomanes ornatus), 164. Ruppell’s Broad-nosed Bat (Scoteanax rueppellii), 165. Northern Broad-nosed Bat (Scotorepens sanborni), 166. Little Broad-nosed Bat (Scotorepens greyii), 167. Inland Broad-nosed Bat (Scotorepens balstoni), 168. Eastern Broad-nosed Bat (Scotorepens orion), 169. Silver-haired Bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans)

Distribution. Known only from three localities (Yaengo, Yatolema, and Yoko) on left bank of Congo River, NC DR Congo .