African Bat Conservation News August 2011 ISSN 1812-1268
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Volume 26 African Bat Conservation News August 2011 ISSN 1812-1268 © E.C.J. Seamark 2010 Above: Rhinolophus swinnyi rhodesiae Roberts, 1946 (UP-947), caught on the banks of the Luvuvhu River, Pufuri, Kruger National Park, South Africa. Inside this issue SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS 2 On some bats recorded in the Adrara region, Mauritania 2 RECENT LITERATURE 5 Conference Presentations 5 Books 16 Reports 17 Published papers 17 NOTICE BOARD 19 Download and subscribe to The views and opinions expressed in articles are no necessarily those of the editor or publisher. African Bat Conservation Articles and news items appearing in African Bat Conservation News may be reprinted, provided the News at: author’s and newsletter reference are given. www.Africanbats.org African Bat Conservation News August 2011 vol. 26 2 ISSN 1812-1268 Scientific Contribution ON SOME BATS RECORDED IN THE ADRAR REGION, MAURITANIA BENJAMIN ALLEGRINI *, GUY DURAND, ERIC DURAND AND OLIVIER PEYRE Naturalia Environnement SARL, Site Agroparc, 84 911 Avignon, France *Corresponding author. Tel. +00 334 908 417 95; E-mail address: [email protected] Key words: Mauritania, Adrar region, Nycticeinops schlieffenii Mauritania is one of the countries of Africa where bat diversity Species Account is the most unrecognized (PADIAL and IBÁÑEZ, 2005). Only Asellia tridens (E. Geoffroy, 1813) thirteen species are listed in the country against a potential of more than thirty (NICKEL, 2001; MICKLEBURGH, et al. 2002). 10 males and 9 females were all captured at sunset over a In the framework of a naturalist expedition undertaken from waterhole of the Tergit Oasis (Site 1). One ♂ was found dead in March 24 to March 28, 2008, we surveyed a portion of the Adrar, a net and deposited at the MNHN (2008-95). an administrative region of central Mauritania, largely composed of sandy areas and a sandstone plateau. Until recently (PADIAL Hipposideros tephrus Cabrera, 1906 and IBÁÑEZ op.cit.), available data on bats in this region were 10 males and 1 female were captured, and a few specimens limited to the study of DEKEYSER and VILLIERS (1956). (<5) roosted near the Tergit spring (Site 1). One ♂ was found The purpose of this note is to list the species encountered dead in a net and deposited at the Paris museum (MNHN 2008- during this survey. 96). The inventories were conducted using three major methods: captures with mist nets set above waterholes or in the vegetation, ultrasound registration and roost search during the day with the help of local people. When captured, each specimen was placed in small individual bags before being measured. The measurements (see Table 1) were taken according to the methodology developed in MITCHELL-JONES and MCLEISH (2004). The patagium was punched for further genetic analysis, a non-lethal technique for bats. All the captured bats were released, except two specimens found dead in the nets, which were donated to the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris (MNHN). The ultrasound recordings were performed using a Pettersson D240x connected to an Edirol R09 recorder. The sounds were then analyzed with Batsound 3.1 software (Pettersson Elektronik, Uppsala, Sweden). Bats were captured in three sites: - Site 1 - March 24 and 28, 2008, Tergit Oasis, 20° 15’ 24.60’’N 13° 5’ 30.13’’W. - Site 2- March 27 and 28, 2008, M’hairet Oasis, 19° 44’ 0.52 “N 12° 53’ 21.40” W. Figure 2. Nycticeinops schlieffenii in M’hairet oasis - Site 3 - March 28, 2008, natural cave, M’hairet Canyon, 19° 43’ 43.75 “N 12° 53’ 27.94” W. A total of 36 individuals belonging to 4 species were captured during the expedition (Table 1). Figure 1. M'hareit oasis Figure 3. Distribution map of Schlieffen’s Twilight Bat (Nycticeinops schlieffenii) Allegrini et al. (2011) Scientific contributions Bats recorded in the Adrar region African Bat Conservation News ISSN 1812-1268 August 2011 vol. 26 3 Table 1. Overview and measurements of bats recorded during the expedition. Site Date Sex FA (mm) Tibia (mm) Tail (mm) c-m3 (mm) Mass (g) Asellia tridens (E. Geoffroy. 1813) 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 51.6 20.0 23.0 7.0 14.0 1 3/29/2008 ♀ 52.0 19.0 21.0 7.0 13.5 1 3/29/2008 ♀ 50.5 20.0 18.0 6.4 11.0 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 51.7 19.0 23.0 7.2 13.0 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 50.7 21.0 20.0 7.0 13.0 1 3/29/2008 ♀ 51.2 20.0 21.0 7.0 14.5 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 50.9 19.0 22.0 7.0 14.0 1 3/29/2008 ♀ 50.8 19.0 22.0 7.1 14.5 1 3/29/2008 ♀ 50.2 19.0 23.0 7.0 12.5 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 53.6 21.0 22.0 7.0 14.5 1 3/29/2008 ♀ 51.4 19.0 22.0 7.0 11.0 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 52.2 19.0 23.0 7.1 10.5 1 3/29/2008 ♀ 50.2 19.0 21.0 6.8 12.0 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 51.6 22.0 24.0 7.1 10.0 1 3/29/2008 ♀ 52.2 19.0 25.0 6.9 10.5 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 52.1 20.0 23.0 7.3 12.0 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 55.2 22.0 22.0 7.4 14.0 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 53.1 21.0 22.0 7.2 12.5 1 3/29/2008 ♀ 50.3 - - - 12.0 Mean 51.7 19.9 22.1 7.0 12.6 Hipposideros tephrus Cabrera. 1906 2 3/28/2008 ♂ 44.3 - 19.5 5.9 - 2 3/27/2008 ♂ 44.2 - 18.1 6.0 - 2 3/27/2008 ♂ 45.5 - 20.5 5.5 - 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 45.8 18.0 - - 5.5 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 45.3 20.0 - - 6.0 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 45.0 - - - 6.0 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 45.5 - - - 6.5 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 45.1 - - - 6.0 1 3/29/2008 ♂ 45.2 - - - 6.5 1 3/24/2008 ♂ 46.7 19.5 5.8 - - 1 3/24/2008 ♀ 51.6 20.1 6.6 - - Mean 45.8 19.4 14.1 5.8 6.1 Rhinopoma cystops Thomas. 1903 3 3/28/2008 ♀ 57.6 26.0 72.0 5.7 - Nycticeinops schlieffenii (Peters. 1859) 2 3/27/2008 ♀ 30.0 13.6 27.9 4.3 5.5 2 3/27/2008 ♂ 29.8 13.4 26.8 4.0 4.5 2 3/28/2008 ♂ 30.5 13.0 25.0 4.5 4.8 2 3/28/2008 ♀ 31.2 12.7 - 4.5 5.0 2 3/28/2008 ♂ 30.1 12.6 - 4.1 5.0 Mean 30.3 13.1 26.6 4.3 5.0 Rhinopoma cystops Thomas, 1903 Nycticeinops schlieffenii (Peters, 1859) A colony of about fifty individuals was found in a cavity of This species (3 males and 2 females) was captured only at the M’hairet Canyon (site 3). A single specimen was captured at this M’hairet Oasis (Site 2). It had never been mentioned previously site. in the Adrar massif (QUMSIYEH and SCHLITTER, 1981; LE BERRE, 1990; AULAGNIER et al., 2008). This taxon was then contacted repeatedly in the palm groves during ultrasound surveys performed at that period. Bats recorded in the Adrar region Scientific contributions Allegrini et al. (2011) African Bat Conservation News August 2011 vol. 26 4 ISSN 1812-1268 Discussion JACOBS, D., COTTERILL, F.P.D., TAYLOR, P.J. & MONADJEM, A. 2008. Nycticeinops schlieffeni. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened These new data confirm the presence of Asellia tridens, Species. Version 2010.4. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on Hipposideros tephrus and Rhinopoma cystops in this region 18 March 2011. of Mauritania and extend the distribution of Nycticeinops LE BERRE, M. 1990. Faune du Sahara. 2. Mammifères. Lechevalier - R. schlieffenii several hundreds of kilometers (Figure 3). This new Chabaud, Paris: 359 pp. locality, suggests the presence of the Schlieffen’s Twilight Bat MICKLEBURGH, S.P., HUTSON, A.M. and RACEY, P.A. 2002. A review of in neighbouring countries. In the future it could probably be the global conservation status of bats. Oryx, 36 (1): 18 - 28. discovered in southern Algeria (Hoggar) and Morocco (Western Sahara). Further investigations are needed to clarify its status in MITCHELL-JONES, A.J and MCLEISH, A.P. [Eds.] 2004. Bat workers’ manual. 3rd edition. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. 178 p. this part of Mauritania. NICKEL, H. 2001. Biodiversité de la Mauritanie. Liste commentée des vertébrés réellement ou potentiellement présents en Mauritanie, à Acknowledgments l’exception des oiseaux. Programme d’accompagnement d’écologie The authors would like to thank the West Coordination Center for bats tropicale de la GTZ Eschborn / Projet GTZ CCD/CBD - Nouakchott / study and protection (Geneva) for the numerous bibliographic references Institut de Recherche Zoologique et Musée Koenig; Bonn / Université and the Mauritanian people that helped us to make this expedition Johannes Gutenberg; Mainz: 67 pp. successful. We also thank Thomas Perrier, Stéphane Aulagnier and PADIAL, J.M and IBÁÑEZ, C. 2005. New records and comments for the one anonymous reviewer for the corrections made to this manuscript. Mauritanian mammal fauna. Mammalia 69(2): 239-243. QUMSIYEH, M.B. and SCHLITTER, D.A. 1981. Bat records from References Mauritania, Africa (Mammalia, Chiroptera). Annals of the Carnegie AULAGNIER, S., HAFFNER, P., MITCHELL-JONES, A.J., MOUTOU, F., Museum 50:345-351. ZIMA, J.