Epomops buettikoferi (Matschie, 1899)

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Pteropodidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 16-162 : 95-96

60.

Buttikofer’s Epauletted Fruit Bat

Epomops buettikoferi

French: Epomophore de Blttikofer / German: Buttikofer-Epaulettenflughund / Spanish: Epomops de Biittikofer

Taxonomy. Epomophorus (Epomophorus) buttikoferi Matschie, 1899 ,

“Schlieffelinsville, Junk River, Liberia.”

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. W African rainforest from S Senegal to C Nigeria.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 142- 195 mm (males) and 103-160 mm (females), tailless, ear 24-26 mm (males) and 20-23 mm (females), hindfoot 21- 22 mm, forearm 89-102 mm (males) and 82-95 mm (females); weight 160-215 g (males) and 110-145 g (females). Males are usually darker, larger, and heavier than females; their heads are also usually larger and more robust. Males have large larynx to produce loud calls. Eyes are large;irises are brown. Ears are brown, with anterior and posterior basal ear patches. Epaulettes occur on adult males; females have inconspicuous invagination on shoulders, with short hairs of same color as dorsal pelage. Dorsum is rich chocolate-brown to pale golden brown, tinted with orange to rusty red on nape and legs. Hairs are unicolored; pelage is soft,slightly fluffy, and mid-dorsally 10-11 mm, extending halfway along forearm. Venteris slightly paler than dorsum, lightening to off-white or white to middle; conspicuous white or whitish patch can be present mid-ventrally; and chin and throat are medium brown in males but only marginally darker than belly in females. Wings have claw on second digits, and membranes are brown, attaching to second toes. Skull is medium-sized, rostrum is broad and relatively long; dorsal profile 1s straight or slightly convex; zygomatic arches are long; and palate is relatively long, rather strongly concave, both side-to-side and anteroposteriorly. Post-dental palate is almost flat. There are three thick and 5-8 thin, irregularly serrated palatal ridges; ridges 1-2 are undivided; and ridge 3 is generally divided by wide medial gap, sometimes by small gap and exceptionally undivided. I* is sometimes missing. Dentition is generally weak, with wide post-canine diastema, and cheekteeth are relatively low and narrow, with wide interdental spaces. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 35 (males) and 36 (females) and FNa = 68, giving a XX/XO sex chromosome system.

Habitat. West African Rainforest and Northern Rainforest-Savanna mosaic biotic zones and sometimes Guinea Savanna areas at elevations of 656-1175 m. Buttikofer’s Epauletted Fruit Bat seems to prefer moist savannas, although it penetrates into lowland rainforests, disturbed forests, secondary bush, cultivated land, gallery forests, and edges of closed forest.

Food and Feeding. Buittikofer’s Epauletted Fruit Bat is primarily frugivorous and lands on fruit and then carries it in the mouth to feeding sites 50-100 m away. Feet and thumbs are used to put food in expansible cheek pouches, where juices and small seeds are extracted. Feeding roosts are used for more than ten days. Large fruits (more than 20 g) mainly from Ficus capensis and FE vallis-choudae (both Moraceae ) dominated diets in Guinean Savanna areas. In other areas, diets can be very diverse with fruits from up to 15 plant genera in 13 families, including Solanum torvum and S. erianthum ( Solanaceae ), Milicia excelsa (Moraceae) , Momordica sp. (Cucurbitaceae) , Anthocleista nobilis (Gentianaceae) , and Adenia cissampeloides and A. miegei (both Passifloraceae ). Flowers of Ceiba pentandra ( Malvaceae ) are also visited. In captivity, Buttikofer’s Epauletted Fruit Bat eats ¢.150% of body weight/night.

Breeding. Litter size of Buttikofer’s Epauletted Fruit Bat is one. In Ivory Coast, births occur at start of long wet season (February-March) when fruit becomes more abundant, with a second peak six months later at about the onset of short wet season (August-September) when there is a minor increase in availability of fruit. Reproductive chronology is bimodal polyestry, with postpartum estrus ( Ivory Coast and Liberia). Gestation lasts ¢.6 months. Lactation (for the whole population) lasts ¢.7-8 weeks for births at start of long wet season and c.13 weeks for second birth period. Longer second period might be linked with reduced synchrony between females. Young start flying in May-June and November—-December. Females become mature at ¢.6 months old and give birth at c.12 months. Males enter puberty at 9-11 months old and are fully adult by 15 months. Males start fledging when they reach 28.9% of adult weight and females when they reach 45-8%.

Activity patterns. Female Buttikofer’s Epauletted Fruit Bats leave their roosts at dusk and forage throughout the night. Males establish calling stations and call for several hours a night until about midnight when they begin to forage. For mating, males form an “exploded” lek along riverbanks, and they emit loud rhythmic calls (*kyonks”) at a rate of one per second; rate increases when females approach. Females actively select calling males and copulate. Activity in leks changes with the season; during mating periods (February—April and August-December), calling starts at ¢.19:45 h. Outside this period, moonlight restricts activity: only a limited number of males call during moonlit nights starting at ¢.21:15 h, whereas on dark nights, most males call and start at ¢.20:15 h.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Buttikofer’s Epauletted Fruit Bats generally roost alone in dense foliage along gallery forest edges.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCNRed List. Buttikofer’s Epauletted Fruit Bat has a wide distribution and presumably large population. Overall population is estimated to be decreasing but likely not fast enough to be assigned to a higher category. Major threats are probably habitat loss due to deforestation and hunting for bushmeat.

Bibliography. Barclay & Harder (2003), Bergmans (1989), Denys etal. (2013), Monadjem (2016a), Seltzer et al. (2013), Thomas & Henry (2013a), Thomas & Marshall (1984), Wolton et al. (1982).

Figures

50. Western Woermann’s Fruit Bat (Megaloglossus azagnyi), 51. Eastern Woermann’s Fruit Bat (Megaloglossus woermanni), 52. Angolan Soft-furred Fruit Bat (Lissonycteris angolensis), 53. Little Collared Fruit Bat (Myonycteris torquata), 54. Sao Tome Collared Fruit Bat (Myonycteris brachycephala), 55. Sierra Leone Collared Fruit Bat (Myonycteris leptodon), 56. Bergmans’s Collared Fruit Bat (Myonycteris relicta), 57. Broad-faced Fruit Bat (Plerotes anchietae), 58. Hammer-headed Fruit Bat (Hypsignathus monstrosus), 59. Franquet’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomops franqueti), 60. Buttikofer’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomops buettikoferi), 61. Veldkamp’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Nanonycteris veldkampr), 62. Gambian Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus gambianus), 63. Peters’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus erypturus), 64. Angolan Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus angolensis), 65. Little Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus labiatus), 66. Minor Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus minor), 67. Ansell’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus anselli), 68. Wahlberg's Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus wahlbergi), 69. Dobson’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus dobsonu), 70. Sanborn’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus grands), 71. Lesser Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus pusillus), 72. Hayman’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus intermedius)

Distribution. W African rainforest from S Senegal to C Nigeria .