VESPERTILIONIDAE GRAY, 1821
|
publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00871.x |
|
publication LSID |
lsid:zoobank.org:pub:19974E66-08F3-4BC7-B35A-13446E7A16D3 |
|
persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/C51087DF-2545-6246-FCDC-FB30FF31F496 |
|
treatment provided by |
Carolina |
|
scientific name |
VESPERTILIONIDAE GRAY, 1821 |
| status |
SP. |
FAMILY VESPERTILIONIDAE GRAY, 1821 View in CoL GENUS NEOROMICIA ROBERTS, 1926 NEOROMICIA ROSEVEARI SP. NOV. ROSEVEAR’ S SEROTINE
Holotype: DM 12617 , field number: AM2010_12_23_1. This is an adult male fixed in formalin and currently preserved in 70% alcohol. The bat was collected by Ara Monadjem. The skull and baculum have been extracted. Photographs of the face and skull of the holotype are illustrated in Figures 5 View Figure 5 and 7 View Figure 7 , and the baculum and tragus are illustrated in Figures 4 View Figure 4 and 6.
Type locality: Liberia, Nimba Province, on the edge of East Nimba Nature Reserve at the base of Mount Nimba ( Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ). The bat was netted across the Yiti River (07°29 ′ N, 08°35 ′ W) in mature riparian forest, surrounded by rainforest on 23 December 2010 GoogleMaps .
Paratypes: The only other specimen available to us that is unambiguously assignable to this species was DM 13226, field number: AM2011_12_23_03. This is
Where available, ranges of values are provided and intraspecific values are given in bold along the diagonal.
Abbreviations: Nb, Neoromicia brunnea ; Nt, Neoromicia tenuipinnis ; Nr, Neoromicia roseveari sp. nov.; Ns1, Neoromicia species 1 ; Ncfr, Neoromicia cf. rendalli ; Hcb, Hypsugo crassulus bellieri ; Ps1, Pipistrellus species 1 ; He, Hypsugo eisentrauti ; Nn, Neoromicia nana ; Pn, Pipistrellus nanulus ; Ns, Neoromicia somalica ; Nc, Neoromicia capensis ; Tb, Tadarida brasiliensis ; Tt, Tadarida teniotis .
The ‘ ~ ’ symbol along the diagonal indicates that N = 1 and pair-wise genetic distances could not be calculated.
Measurements presented as mean ± standard deviation, range, and sample size (N).
Measurements presented as mean ± standard deviation, range, and sample size (N).
GSKL, greatest skull length; CIL, condylo–incisive length; CCL, condylo–canine length; ZYGO, greatest zygomatic breadth; GBW, greatest braincase width; GSH, greatest skull height; POB, postorbital width; MAST, greatest mastoid breadth; MAND, greatest mandible length; M 3 –M 3, width across the third molars; C–M 3, complete upper canine–molar tooth row; C–C, width across upper canines; c–m 3, complete mandibular canine–molar tooth row. See text for details of the points from which measurements were taken.
an adult male captured on 23 December 2011 in rainforest 9 km to the west of East Nimba Nature Reserve and about 5 km to the south of Mount Gangra , an isolated mountain to the east of Mount Nimba (07°29 ′ N, 08°39 ′ W) GoogleMaps .
Etymology: This species is named after Donovan Reginald Rosevear who made a significant contribution to West African bat research in the 20 th century, culminating in his book ‘ The bats of West Africa ’ ( Rosevear, 1965). Monadjem et al. (2010) provided further information on Rosevear’s achievements.
Diagnosis: A medium to large pipistrelloid bat, assignable to the genus Neoromicia on the basis of the presence of a single upper premolar ( Hill & Harrison, 1987). The genus Eptesicus also has a single upper premolar, but differs greatly in baculum morphology ( Hill & Harrison, 1987). The pelage is dark chocolate brown on both the upper and under parts ( Fig. 5 View Figure 5 ), with the individual hairs of the under parts having dark bases giving the pelage a bicoloured appearance. Within the West African rainforest pipistrelloid fauna, N. roseveari is consistently larger than any other species (greatest skull length of the two known specimens is 14.36 and 14.47 mm), although it may overlap in size with H. eisentrauti . These two species are easily separable by cranial, dental, baculum, and GSKL, greatest skull length; ZYGO, greatest zygomatic breadth; MAST, greatest mastoid breadth; POB, postorbital width; GBW, greatest braincase width; MAND, greatest mandible length; C–M 3, complete upper canine–molar tooth row; C–C, width across upper canines; M 3 –M 3, width across the third molars; c–m 3, complete mandibular canine–molar tooth row.
molecular characters. Hypsugo eisentrauti has a distinctly wider skull, a well-developed anterior premolar, and robust baculum ( Hill & Harrison, 1987), and on molecular grounds N. roseveari does not group with any of the H. eisentrauti specimens ( Fig. 2 View Figure 2 ). The East and Central African N. grandidieri is similar in size but has unicoloured fur and a different shaped baculum ( Thorn, Kock & Cuisin, 2007). Another large pipistrelloid bat described from Africa that could possibly be confused with N. roseveari is P. inexspectatus . However, the latter species has a greatly reduced anterior premolar ( Rosevear, 1965), which is absent altogether in N. roseveari , and has distinctly bicoloured fur with individual hairs having dark bases and either red-brown (upper parts) or silvery-white (under parts) tips ( Rosevear, 1965). Furthermore, N. roseveari (with a forearm of> 36 mm, and greatest skull length> 14 mm) is significantly larger than P. inexspectatus (forearm of 31 mm and greatest skull length of 13 mm) (see Tables 3, 4)( Rosevear, 1965). The last species of African pipistrelloid with which N. roseveari could be confused is N. brunnea ( de Vree, 1973) . Molecular analysis of these two species shows that each forms a well-supported monophyletic clade ( Fig. 2 View Figure 2 ), differing by 7% for the COI gene ( Table 2). In external appearance and cranial measurements they are very similar, but N. roseveari is larger in size and has a narrower base to the tragus ( Fig. 6). Neoromicia brunnea and N. roseveari are distinct in baculum morphology, differing in both size and shape ( Fig. 4 View Figure 4 ).
Description: External characters: Neoromicia roseveari is a large-sized member of its genus, with a uniformly chocolate brown pelage that is unicoloured above and slightly bicoloured below ( Fig. 5 View Figure 5 ). The upper and under parts are similar in colour. The colour of the patagium and uropatagium is dark brown. The ear is similar to other members of the genus, being relatively short and rounded. The tragus has a curved outer margin with a distinct lobe at its base ( Fig. 6) and appearing very similar to the tragus of N. brunnea ( Fig. 7 View Figure 7 ). The various external measurements of the holotype of N. roseveari are shown in Table 3.
Craniodental characters: The skull is relatively robust for a Neoromicia . The rostrum is broad. The brain case is broad and rises distinctly and sharply above the level of the rostrum ( Fig. 7 View Figure 7 ). The posterior of the skull does not lead to an extended parietal/ supraoccipital crest as in the ‘helmet’ of N. capensis ( Kearney, 2005) . Low sagittal and lambdoid crests are visible. The zygomatic arch is moderately robust and equally broad anteriorly and posteriorly. Craniodental measurements for the holotype of N. roseveari are shown in Table 4.
The dentition of N. roseveari is I 2/3, C 1/1, P 1/3, M 2/3, which is typical of the genus Neoromicia . In contrast to N. grandidieri ( Thorn et al., 2007) , the upper tooth rows are not parallel in N. roseveari but converge anteriorly ( Fig. 7 View Figure 7 ). In the upper tooth row, I 1 is bifid and I 2 is relatively large, reaching about two-thirds the length of I 1. P 1 is absent and C 1 is in touch with P 2. The molars are shorter than their breadth.
Biology: Neoromicia roseveari is known from just two specimens collected in the environs of Mount Nimba, Liberia, although not on the mountain itself. Both specimens were collected between 450 and 550 m above sea level, the altitude at the base of the mountain. Both specimens were netted in primary forest, suggesting that this is a forest-dependent species. Two publications refer to Neoromicia aff. grandidieri from West Africa. The first mention of this was by Monadjem & Fahr (2007), who reported two specimens from the Liberian side of the Gola forest. A second mention is in Fahr & Kalko (2011), who reported two specimens of N. aff. grandidieri from the Tai forest, Côte d’Ivoire (see Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ). We have not examined these specimens, but there is the possibility that N. aff. grandidieri refers to N. roseveari . If this is the case, then this species will probably be shown to have a wider distribution in the Upper Guinean rainforest zone. Considering the rapid destruction of these Upper Guinean forests, the conservation status of N. roseveari needs to be urgently assessed. Nothing can be inferred about the reproductive biology of the species, and as far as we are aware, no echolocation calls have been recorded for N. roseveari .
·
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.