Rhinolophus hipposiderus minimus Heugl.

Andersen, Knud, 1905, On some Bats of the Genus Rhinolophus, with Remarks on their Mutual Affinities, and Descriptions of Twenty-six new Forms., Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 2, pp. 75-145 : 140-141

27 a. Rhinolophus hipposiderus minimus Heugl.

Rhinolophus minimus Heuglin, N. Act. Acad. Caes. Leon. -Car. xxix. (1861) p. 6.

Rhinolophus hipposiderus minimus Andersen, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (7) xiv. (1904) p. 455.

Diagnosis. Small: forearm 34'7-38 mm.

Details. As lately pointed ont by me elsewhere (Z. s. c.), V. Heuglin’s Rh. minimus , first described from Keren in Erythrea (type in the Stuttgart Museum), is a well-marked geographical race of Rh. hipposiderus, differing from the Central European form by its considerably smaller size. At the same time I mentioned that the British Museum possesses an example from Sennar indistinguishable from the type specimen of minimus .

A subsequent examination of the whole series of Rh. hipposiderus preserved in the British Museum has revealed the rather surprising fact that Rh. h. minimus is by no means confined to Keren and Sennar, but generally distributed over the Mediterranean Subregion.

It differs from the Central European form in being in every respect smaller; in some respects, as it seems, absolutely smaller, in others at least on an average. I find the length of the forearm to be the best means for a ready discrimination: in minimus , 34'7-38 mm.; in the typical form, 39-41'7 mm. For other details, cf. the measurements on p. 143.

The skull is markedly smaller, the nasal swellings a trifle narrower, the teeth slightly smaller.

Distribution. 32 specimens examined. As it is of some interest to have the range of this hitherto overlooked form exactly determined, I subjoin a list of the localities from which I have seen examples, together with measurements of the forearm; it might perhaps lead to further investigation:—

Keren (1, the type): forearm 36'3. Sennar(l): 36-5. Cyprus (6): 347-377. Smyrna (1): 37'5. Malta (8): 36-37. Middle Italy (Ostia 2): 35-7-36-8. Corsica (1): 377. Haute Savoie and Geneva (2): 37’7-38. Balearic Islands (7): 36-2-37'6. Seville t (1): 37 ’ 7. Morocco (Tangiers 1): 37'7. Portugal (Cintra 1): 36-2.

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Summary of Distribution:—The Mediterranean Subregion, south eastwards to Sennar and Keren. Be it noted: there is no record from Egypt (and, very likely, it does not occur there: of. remarks on p. 143).

Remarks. In the whole series of Rh. hipposiderus examined (apart from the British specimens, of course) I have not found any individual which I could not easily refer either to the southern or the northern form. I have some reason to believe that in certain border districts (e. g. S.W. Switzerland; perhaps also Cyprus) the two forms occur together, perhaps side by side, but intermediate eXamples I have never seen. They will probably be found.