Rhinolophus episcopus, G. M. Allen, 1923

Burgin, Connor, 2019, Rhinolophidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 280-332 : 301

44 . Allen’s Horseshoe Bat

Rhinolophus episcopus

French: Rhinolophe episcopal / German: Allen-Hufeisennase / Spanish: Herradura de Allen

Taxonomy. Rhinolophus episcopus G. M. Allen, 1923 ,

“ Wanhsien , Szechwan Province, China.”

Rhinolophus episcopus is generally considered to be a subspecies of R macrotis', however, following recent genetic studies, the taxon has been validated at the species level, including caldwelli as a subspecies. R episcopus appears to be sister to R siamensis with R osgoodi being sister to this clade. Within R episcopus , there are three clades that represent three distinct subspecies. Beside the nominal subspecies, the name caldwelli is available for one of them, but there is a third undescribed subspecies as well. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

R e. episcopus G. M. Allen, 1923 — C & SE China (Shaanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangdong).

R e. caldwelli G. M. Allen, 1923 - SE China (Fujian).

There is also an undescribed subspecies from S China (Yunnan) and NE Vietnam.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 36-38 mm, tail 16—26 mm, ear 18- 5—28 mm, hindfoot 6-10- 5 mm, forearm 45-52 mm (subspecies episcopus ), 43-45 mm (subspecies caldwelli), 40-46 (undescribed subspecies); weight 5-9- 5 g. Dorsal pelage is generally light brown; venter is paler buff. There is no known orange morph. Ears are large. Lancet is long, with convex or more or less straight lateral margins and rounded or a little pointed tip (width of tip differs between subspecies); connecting process is high and rounded, being almost parallel to sella at lower part; sella is long and upward pointed, broad, rounded, roughly tongue-shaped, and covered in long, dense hair on front (sides are sometimes convex); and horseshoe is broad at 6-8— 10 mm, covers muzzle, has lateral leaflets that are partly or fully concealed by horseshoe, and has small but distinct median emargination. Lower lip has three medial grooves. Baculum has small, slightly dorso-ventrally compressed basal cone; dorsal and ventral emarginations on proximal margins are slight and wide; ventral depression extends on shaft as ventral flat surface to one-half the length; shaft is thicker in middle; slight dorsal bend occurs near basal cone; and tip is narrowly rounded off, laterally widened, and has longish dorsal knob. Skull has elongated facial features; zygomatic width is less than mastoid width; anterior median swellings are well inflated and elongated; posterior median swellings are short and small; sagittal crest is weak across skull; frontal depression is shallow or of medium development; and supraorbital crests are conspicuous, often with sharp ridges. P2 is small but in tooth row, not allowing C1 and P4 to touch; P3 is within tooth row or slightly displaced labially; P2 and P4 are separated.

Habitat. Caves and mines surrounded by primary forest, secondary growth, or agricultural fields. In north-eastern Vietnam, Alien’s Horseshoe Bats have been caught at elevations of 650-1950 m.

Food and Feeding. In Yunnan, 96 fecal samples included primarily lepidopteran prey along with Hymenoptera and less frequently Goleoptera.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Allen’s Horseshoe Bats are nocturnal. Call shape is FM / CF / FM and F component has been recorded at 45-1-52-7 kHz (subspecies episcopus ), 61 - 7 - 62-8 kHz (subspecies caldwelli), and 50-8—58-4 kHz (undescribed subspecies).

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on IUCNed List. Allen’s Horseshoe Bat was only recently recognized as distinct from A macrotis and further studies into its ecology and threats are needed.

Bibliography. Csorba et al. (2003), Kruskop (2013a), LiuTong eta /. (2019), Zhang Libiao, Jones et al. (2009), Zhang Lin et al. (2018).

Figures

On following pages: 27. African Forest Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus silvestris); 28. Upland Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hillorum); 29. Sakeji Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus sakejiensis); 30. Bokhara Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus bocharicus); 31. Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum); 32. Geoffrey's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus clivosus); 33. Greater Japanese Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus nippon); 34. Horacek's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus horaceki); 35. Maclaud's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus maclaudi); 36. Ziama Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ziama); 37. Hill's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hilli); 38. Kahuzi Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus kahuzi); 39. Willard's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus willardi); 40. Ruwenzori Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ruwenzorii); 41. Chinese Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus xinanzhongguoensis); 42. Big-eared Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus macrotis); 43. Osgood's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus osgoodi); 44. Allen's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus episcopus); 45. Thai Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus siamensis); 46, Schnitzler's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus schnitzten); M. King Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus rex); 48. Marshall’s Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus marshalli).

Subspecies and Distribution. R e. episcopus G. M. Allen, 1923 — C & SE China (Shaanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangdong). R e. caldwelli G. M. Allen, 1923 - SE China (Fujian). There is also an undescribed subspecies from S China (Yunnan) and NE Vietnam .