Scotophilus borbonicus (E. Geoffroy 1803)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Chiroptera - Family Vespertilionidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 451-529 : 465

Scotophilus borbonicus (E. Geoffroy 1803)

[Vespertilio] borbonicus E. Geoffroy 1803 , Cat. Mamm. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat.: 46.

Type Locality: Réunion Isl ( France).

Vernacular Names: Reunion House Bat.

Distribution: Réunion Isl (Mascarene Isls). Records from Mauritius (Mascarene Isls) are erroneous, see Cheke and Dahl (1981). Reports from Madagascar have not been confirmed; see Peterson et al. (1995).

Conservation: IUCN 2003 and IUCN / SSC Action Plan (2001) – Critically Endangered. May be extinct; see Cheke and Dahl (1981).

Discussion: Hill (1980 b) considered African viridis and damarensis, and possibly leucogaster , to be conspecific with borbonicus , and Koopman (1986) included viridis , damarensis, and nigritellus (but not leucogaster ) in this species. However, in a comprehensive revision of the African forms Robbins et al. (1985) rejected any affinity of borbonicus sensu stricto with African mainland species. I therefore restrict usage of the name borbonicus to the Réunion Isl form, and follow Robbins et al. (1985) in using leucogaster and dinganii for the smaller mainland species.