Neoromicia capensis (A. Smith, 1829)

Cakenberghe, Victor Van, Tungaluna, Guy-Crispin Gembu, Akawa, Prescott Musaba, Seamark, Ernest & Verheyen, Erik, 2017, The bats of the Congo and of Rwanda and Burundi revisited (Mammalia: Chiroptera), European Journal of Taxonomy 382 (382), pp. 1-327 : 96

Neoromicia capensis (A. Smith, 1829)

Fig. 43 E–F

Vespertilio Capensis A. Smith, 1829: 435 .

* Eptesicus capensis (A. Smith, 1829) .

* Eptesicus garambae ” J.A. Allen, 1917: 445 .

* Eptesicus minutus ” (Temminck, 1835) : 209.

* Eptesicus grandidieri ” (Dobson, 1876) : 500.

Hayman et al. (1966: 46) already pointed to the confused status of the nomenclature of the small, darkwinged African members of the genus Eptesicus , where they indicated that E. capensis might include the following synonyms: garambae , minutus , grandidieri and possibly pusillus . Although the situation at the species level has been resolved, the supraspecific (generic) assignment of the African taxa once considered to belong to either Eptesicus or Pipistrellus still remains uncertain. Currently, these taxa are assigned to Eptesicus , Pipistrellus , Neoromicia and Hypsugo , of which the former does not have representatives in the CRB area. One of the major reasons for this confusion is that there are hardly any morphological characters which easily distinguish these genera (see Van Cakenberghe & Happold 2013a: 600). Based on bacular morphology, Hill & Harrison (1987: 261) suggested that capensis should be transferred from the genus Eptesicus to the genus Pipistrellus and more specifically to the subgenus Neoromicia . Based on dental characters, Menu (1987: 33) placed capensis in the genus Nycterikaupius . Karyological data led Volleth et al. (2001: 25) to elevate the subgenus Neoromicia to generic rank.

Distributionwise, Hayman et al. (1966: 46) provided data for four taxa: capensis , “ garambae ”, “ grandidieri ” and “ minutus ”, which were plotted on maps 54, 55, 56 and 57. The specimens identified as belonging to the latter two taxa were only reported from the area of the Garamba National Park (Haut Uélé Province). Specimens belonging to capensis were reported from two additional localities in the northern part of the DRC and also from a number of localities in the southern former provinces of Katanga and Kasai, as well as from Léopoldville (= Kinshasa). The SDM map indicates that the core area of distribution for N. capensis is southern Africa, south of the DRC, but also that specimens have been reported from as far north as Guinea, Ghana, Togo and Cameroon in western Africa and South Sudan and Ethiopia in the east. The map provided by Kearney (2013c: 615) shows a gap in NE (sic) Angola / SW DRC, and one from the central DRC over Tanzania to Mozambique, which might reflect insufficient sampling. However, she also left a gap between the DRC specimens and those from Cameroon, suggesting that the West African populations might be isolated from the remainder of the distribution area and represent another taxon. This might either be a different species or a form of capensis , which has not yet been named, as Kearney doesn’t mention any subspecies from that part of the continent.

Figures

Fig. 43. Distribution maps. A–B. Mimetillus thomasi Hinton, 1920. C–D. Neoromicia brunnea (Thomas, 1880). E–F. Neoromicia capensis (A. Smith, 1829). A, C, E. Distribution in the CRB area. B, D, F. Pan- African distribution.