Volume 41 African Bat Conservation News January 2016 ISSN 1812-1268 © ECJ Seamark, 2013 (AfricanBats) Above: Zulu Serotine Bat (Neoromicia zuluensis) caught at Telperion Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa. Inside this issue: Observations, Discussions and Updates Recent changes in African bat taxonomy (2015 - 2016). Part I 2 Scientific contributions New distribution records of the Short-eared Trident Bat, Cloeotis percivali Thomas, 1901 (Chiroptera: 3 Rhinonycteridae) in South Africa Recent Literature Papers 9 Notice Board Conferences 15 Call for contributions 15 Download and subscribe to African Bat Conservation News published by AfricanBats at: www.africanbats.org The views and opinions expressed in articles are no necessarily those of the editor or publisher. Articles and news items appearing in African Bat Conservation News may be reprinted, provided the author’s and newsletter reference are given. African Bat Conservation News January 2016 vol. 41 2 ISSN 1812-1268 Observations, Discussions and Updates Recent changes in African Bat Taxonomy (2015 – 2016). Part I VICTOR VAN CAKENBERGHE1,2 AND ERNEST C.J. SEAMARK2,3 1University of Antwerp, Department of Biology, Lab for Functional Morphology, Campus Drie Eiken, Universiteitsplein, 1, B-2610 Antwerpen (Wilrijk), Belgium. 2AfricanBats, 357 Botha Ave, Kloofsig, 0157. 3Centre for Wildlife Management, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20 Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, SouthAfrica. †Hipposideros (Pseudorhinolophus) amenhotepos data described Otompos harrisoni, of which the distribution Gunnell, Winkler, Miller, Head, El-Barkooky, Gawad, range extends from the Arabian Peninsula through Eritrea and Sanders, and Gingerich 2015 south to Ethiopia and Kenya. The species is named after the late Gunnell et al. (2015b) described H. amenhotepos from the renowned mammalogist, taxonomist and bat expert Dr. David upper middle Eocene Gebel Hof (Qarara) Formation, in Egypt. It Lakin Harrison (1926–2015). Harrison’s numerous publications is named for Amenhotep IV (= Achnaton, Echnaton, Akhenaten), on Afro-Arabian Chiroptera, in particular the Molossidae, have a pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt whose capital city of significantly improved our knowledge of this poorly known family. Achetaton (currently Amarna) was located in the Eastern Desert not far from where the type locality Khasm El-Raqaba (=KER) †Scotoecus olduvensis Gunnell, Butler, Greenwood is today. and Simmons 2015 Gunnell et al. (2015a) described Scotoecus olduvensis from †Myzopoda africana Gunnell, Butler, Greenwood and the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania of early Pleistocene age, and Simmons 2015 ranging between 1.80 and 1.85 Mya. Named for Olduvai Gorge, Gunnell et al. (2015a) described Myzopoda africana from the Tanzania. Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania of early Pleistocene age, and ranging between 1.80 and 1.85 Mya. The species name is given for †Nycticeinops serengetiensis Gunnell, Butler, the African continent, since the new species represents the only Greenwood and Simmons 2015 known occurrence of the genus Myzopoda on continental Africa; Gunnell et al. (2015a) described Nycticeinops serengetiensis extant species are restricted to Madagascar. from the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania of early Pleistocene age, and ranging between 1.80 and 1.85 Mya. Named for the famed †Cardioderma leakeyi Gunnell, Butler, Greenwood Serengeti region in northern Tanzania where Olduvai Gorge is and Simmons 2015 located. Gunnell et al. (2015a) described Cardioderma leakeyi from Literature cited the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania of early Pleistocene age, and GUNNELL, G. F., BUTLER, P. M., GREENWOOD, M. and SIMMONS, N. ranging between 1.80 and 1.85 Mya. It is named in honor of B. 2015a. Bats (Chiroptera) from Olduvai Gorge, Early Pleistocene, Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (1903-1972), a British/Kenyan Bed I (Tanzania). American Museum Novitates 3846: 1–36. archaeologist and paleoanthropologist, who was instrumental in GUNNELL, G. F., WINKLER, A. J., MILLER, E. R., HEAD, J. J., EL- initiating and leading the search for vertebrate fossils, especially BARKOOKY, A. N., GAWAD, M. A., SANDERS, W. J. and fossil humans, in East Africa. GINGERICH, P. D. 2015b. Small vertebrates from Khasm El-Raqaba, late Middle Miocene, Eastern Desert, Egypt. Historical Biology 28 (1- 2): 159–171 (for 2016). doi: 10.1080/08912963.2015.1014354. Otomops harrisoni Ralph, Richards, Taylor, Napier RALPH, T. M. C., RICHARDS, L. R., TAYLOR, P. J., NAPIER, M. C. and and Lamb 2015 LAMB, J. M. 2015. Revision of Afro-Malagasy Otomops (Chiroptera: Ralph et al. (2015) combining morphometric (cranial Molossidae) with the description of a new Afro-Arabian species. morphology) and molecular (mitochondrial cytochrome b and Zootaxa 4057 (1): 1–49. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4057.1.1. D-loop sequences, nuclear intron sequences and microsatellites) Observations, Discussions and Updates African Bat Conservation News ISSN 1812-1268 January 2016 vol. 41 3 Scientific contributions New distribution records of the Short-eared Trident Bat, Cloeotis percivali Thomas, 1901 (Chiroptera: Rhinonycteridae) in South Africa. JULIO BALONA Gauteng and Northern Regions Bat Interest Group (GNoR BIG), Johannesburg, South Africa. Email: [email protected]. Six new distribution records for the Short-eared trident bat, Cloeotis percivali, are presented for South Africa: two from Gauteng Province and four from Limpopo Province. The new data are noteworthy considering the general scarcity of the species in South Africa, and especially as the Gauteng records are the first published in about six decades. These locations are important roosts. They therefore rank as focal conservation targets for C. percivali, in addition to their high species richness. The status of other known C. percivali colonies is also updated, with additional comments on the roosting habits and sensitive temperament of this vulnerable species. Key words: Cloeotis percivali, new records, South Africa, capture myopathy. INTRODUCTION MATERIALS & METHODS The cave-roosting Short-eared Trident Bat, Cloeotis percivali Gauteng and Northern Regions Bat Interest Group Thomas, 1901 from the family Rhinonycteridae (FOLEY et (GNoR BIG) surveys al., 2014) has a limited distribution in East Africa (Kenya and Mafia Island, Tanzania, and its type locality is Takaungu, Over the period March 2008 to July 2013 we conducted 29 north of Mombasa), and south-central and southern Africa general bat surveys in the South African provinces of Limpopo, (SE Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, SE Botswana, Gauteng, North West, Mpumalanga and Free State. These Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and South Africa) surveys focused on the Limpopo Province, with certain sites (ROBERTS, 1951; RAUTENBACH, 1982; COTTERILL, 2001; surveyed more than once (Table 1). JACOBS, 2013). Internationally it is categorised as Least Table 1: Breakdown of survey provinces between Mar 2008 and Jul 2013. Concern (MICKLEBURGH et al., 2008), with most records from South Africa and Zimbabwe (MONADJEM et al., 2010). In South Province No. of surveys No. of localities Africa, its status was raised in 2004 from Vulnerable to Critically Limpopo 14 10 Endangered (FRIEDMANN and DALY, 2004). This was on the basis that the size of a colony in the Jozini Dam wall - one of Gauteng 4 3 only two roosts known to still be active in the country at the time Free State 4 2 - had shown a dramatic decline. From an estimated 200 to 300 bats in 1995, the colony had collapsed to less than ten by 2002 Mpumalanga 5 4 (TAYLOR, 2007). The other active roost is a cave known as North West 2 2 Miggies Gat near Nelspruit (SEAMARK, 2005). In 2003, a new roost was found in an old mine tunnel in the Pilgrims Rest area by a combined team from the Mpumalanga Survey duration ranged from one to five nights, but usually Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) together with the then Cave consisted of two nights of mistnetting and the setting of harp and Exploration Rescue and Adventure Club (Lientjie Cohen traps, typically on farms or nature reserves. Usually two harps pers. comm.). Another colony was found in an old mine tunnel were in use; a double bank model from Austbat with a capture outside Machadodorp in 2004, this time by a combined team area of 1.8 m height x 2 m width and a 25 mm line spacing, and from the MTPA together with the GNoR BIG, and represented by a smaller home-made double bank trap (1.5 m height x 1.2 m a single voucher lodged at the Ditsong Natural History Museum width) with the same line spacing. as TM47615. If caves, old mine tunnels or other anthropogenic cavities were In 2005, a colony of between 50 and 100 of C. percivali was present, these were explored during the day. In some cases one re-discovered in an abandoned gold mine, in Swaziland, near or two harp traps were set at night at cavity entrances. the South African border (MONADJEM et al., 2005). At the time Captured C. percivali were identified by their unique recommissioning of the mine was being considered, threatening morphological profile, namely the trident noseleaf, the short the continued existence of the colony. It is not known if the mine rounded ears lacking ridges, the yellowish pelage, and the was in fact bought back into operation. relatively small forearm size and body mass. Single voucher In 2007 a return visit to the Jozini Dam roost found only ‘a specimens were taken at two of the localities as allowed by the handful’ of bats (TAYLOR, 2007). permits issued by the relevant nature conservation authority. The two most recent records are from 2010, a dead unsexed For other species mentioned in the text, identification was by a C. percivali found at Pafuri Camp in the Kruger National Park, combination of morphology, measurements of forearm and mass, apparently killed by collision with a ceiling fan (JUBBER, 2012); dental arrangement and analysis of echolocation recordings. and - most recently, a single unsexed C. percivali caught in a Those bats that could not be identified with confidence to species harp trap near the Gatkop Caves in Limpopo Province (CHEGE level are referred to by their generic name only.