Neoromicia nanus (Peters 1852)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Chiroptera - Family Vespertilionidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 451-529 : 494

Neoromicia nanus (Peters 1852)

[Vespertilio] nanus Peters 1852 , Reise nach Mossambique, Saugethiere: 63.

Type Locality: Mozambique, Inhambane.

Vernacular Names: Banana Pipistrelle.

Subspecies: :

Subspecies Neoromicia nanus subsp. nanus Peters 1852

Subspecies Neoromicia nanus subsp. culex Thomas 1911

Subspecies Neoromicia nanus subsp. fouriei Thomas 1926

Subspecies Neoromicia nanus subsp. meesteri Kock 2001

Subspecies Neoromicia nanus subsp. minusculus Miller 1900

Subspecies Neoromicia nanus subsp. stampflii Jentink 1888

Distribution: South Africa to Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Niger, Mali, and Senegal; Madagascar; Pemba and Zanzibar.

Conservation: IUCN 2003 and IUCN / SSC Action Plan (2001) – Lower Risk (lc) as Pipistrellus nanus .

Discussion: Usually placed in Pipistrellus or Hypsugo , but recently transferred to Neoromicia based on analyses of karyotype data ( Kearney et al., 2002; Volleth et al., 2001). The oldest name for this species is africanus (see Koopman [1975], Meester et al. [1986], and Kock [2001 b]), but the name nanus has been applied to this taxon extensively in the literature for many decades. A petition has been filed with the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to conserve nanus in place of africanus (M. Happold, pers. comm.) Pending a ruling of the International Commission, I follow Koopman (1993) in retaining the name nanus for this species in the interest of stability. Does not include helios , see comments under that species. May not include minusculus, culex, or fouriei; see Peterson (1987), who suggested in an abstract that these taxa and helios represent two distinct species, helios (no junior synonyms) and minusculus (including culex and fouriei). May not include pusillulus (here treated as a syononym of meesteri), see Kock et al. (2002). It is probable that africanus and nanus represent different subspecies, but their limits have yet to be evaluated, see Kock (2001 b).