Macronycteris gigas (Wagner, 1845)

Mongombe, Aaron Manga, Fils, Eric Moise Bakwo & Tamesse, Joseph Lebel, 2020, Annotated checklist of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of Mount Cameroon, southwestern Cameroon, Zoosystema 42 (24), pp. 483-514 : 502

Macronycteris gigas (Wagner, 1845)

( Fig. 15 , Table 3 )

Rhinolophus gigas Wagner, 1845: 148 .

COMMON NAME. — English: Giant Leaf-nosed Bat. French: Chauvesouris de Commerson à nez feuillu.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 4 specimens (including original data).

Other localities of Cameroon • 1 ♀; Dikume - Balue ; 4°14’42”N, 9°29’36”E; 1100 m; 6.III.1967; Martin Eisentraut leg.; ZFMK 1969.0463 .

ORIGINAL DATA. — Three individuals attributed to the Giant Leaf-nosed Bat were captured during our field surveys. Two males ( Table 1 ) were captured in a cultivated farm near a river at an altitude of 470 m a.s.l. One female ( Table 1 ) was also netted over a water hole in a primary forest at an altitude of 630 m a.s.l.

HABITATS AND DISTRIBUTION. — This species is widely distributed in West Africa from Senegal to Cameroon, with a number of additional records further east to Tanzania and south to Namibia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique ( Monadjem et al. 2010). This species generally inhabits lowland tropical rainforest (including secondary and riverine forest) and mesic savannah ( Monadjem et al. 2010), where small colonies typically roost in caves, but occasionally could be found roosting in dense vegetation ( Happold 1987). In Liberian Mount Nimba this species was captured in forested and disturbed habitats, ranging from 460 m to 1060 m a.s.l. ( Monadjem et al. 2016). According to Happold (1987) this species does not hunt daily, it preys mostly on large beetles and often return to the roosts to consume prey.

REMARK. — We adopt the generic name Macronycteris based on the revison by Foley et al. (2017).

Figures

FIG. 15. — Macronycteris gigas (Wagner, 1845). Photo: © Aaron Manga Mongombe.