Miniopterus newtoni, Bocage, 1889

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Miniopteridae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 674-709 : 703-704

20.

Newton's Long-fingered Bat

Miniopterus newtoni

French: Minioptére de Sao Tomé / German: Newton-Langflligelfledermaus / Spanish: Minidptero de Newton

Other common names: Newton's Bent-winged Bat

Taxonomy. Miniopterus newtoni Bocage, 1889 ,

“St. Thomé [= Sao Tomé Island].”

Miniopterus newton : was previously considered a subspecies of M. minor . Monotypic.

Distribution. Endemic to Sao Tomé I.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 45 mm, tail 43 mm, ear 9-5-10 mm, hindfoot 9 mm, forearm 38-40 mm; weight 7 g. Newton's Long-fingered Bat has blackish gray dorsal and ventral pelage. There is also a reddish morph, although less abundant. It has narrow hairy edge along dorsal side of wing membrane in area between femur and humerus. Lower part of this membrane has few and sparse hairs, and uropatagium is hairless on both sides. Ears are small, and tragusis relatively long (4: 5 mm) and narrow, with rounded tip.

Habitat. Various habitats including non-altered forests and anthropogenic environments (e.g. cocoa plantations and around streetlights in urban areas) at elevations of 0-1300 m.

Food and Feeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but other long-fingered bats mainly eat soft insects captured in flight.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Presumably nocturnal. It mainly roosts in caves but also mines and tunnels. Echolocation calls have downward FM signals, with maximum frequencies of 69-6-119 kHz, minimum frequencies of 47-8-52-2 kHz, peak frequencies of 53-2— 61 kHz, durations of 2-3-7-8 milliseconds, and intervals of 31-8-105-7 milliseconds.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Newton's LLong-fingered Bats form colonies with thousands of individuals and share roosts with other species of bats such as Noack’s Leaf-nosed Bat (Hipposideros ruber) and Temminck’s Myotis ( Myotis tricolor).

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. There is little information about population status, ecology, and distribution of Newton's Longfingered Bat, and conservation threats are unknown.

Bibliography. Bocage (1889), Juste & Ibanez (1992), Juste et al. (2007), Rainho et al. (2010).

Figures

18. Villiers’s Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus villiersi), 19. Greater Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus inflatus), 20. Newton's Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus newtoni), 21. Least Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus minor), 22. Sandy Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus arenarius), 23. African Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus africanus), 24. Natal Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus natalensis), 25. Mozambican Long-fingered Bat (Muniopterus mossambicus), 26. Lesser Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus fraterculus), 27. Aellen’s Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus aelleni), 28. Griveaud’s Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus griveaudi), 29. Glen’s Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus gleni), 30. Madagascar Long-fingered Bat (Manaopterus brachytragos), 31. Montagne d’Ambre Long-fingered Bat (Minaiopterus ambohitrenss), 32. Major’s Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus majori), 33. Eger’s Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus egent), 34. Manavil Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus manai), 35. Sororcula Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus sororculus), 36. Peterson’s Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus petersoni), 37. Mahafaly Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus mahafaliensis), 38. Griffiths’s Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus griffiths)

Distribution. Endemic to Sao Tomé I.