Bates's slit-faced bat

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Bates's slit-faced bat
Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.MAM.16366.b ven - Nycteris arge - skin.jpeg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Nycteridae
Genus: Nycteris
Species:
N. arge
Binomial name
Nycteris arge
Thomas, 1903
Synonyms
  • Petalia arge (Thomas, 1903)

Bate's slit-faced bat (Nycteris arge) is a species of slit-faced bat frequently confused with Nycteris major . It is broadly distributed and common, living throughout many parts of Africa in forests and savannas. [1]

Contents

It was described as a new species in 1903 by British zoologist Oldfield Thomas. The holotype had been collected from Cameroon by George Latimer Bates. [2]

Description

Bates's slit-faced bat, as the common name suggests, has a "deep median furrow" down its face. Its ears are large and rounded. Its dental formula is 2.1.1.33.1.2.3 for a total of 32 teeth. [3] It has a particularly large brain for an insectivorous bat species. [4]

Range and status

It is found throughout Central and West Africa, including Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. It is found in lowland areas. [1]

In 2017, it was evaluated as a least-concern species by the IUCN. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Large slit-faced bat</span> Species of bat

The large slit-faced bat is a species of slit-faced bat with a broad distribution in forest and savanna habitats in West, Central, and East Africa. N. marica, is the available name for the southern savanna species if it is recognized as distinct from this species.

The intermediate slit-faced bat is a species of slit-faced bat living in forest and savanna regions of west and central Africa. It is easily confused with Nycteris arge and Nycteris nana. It is broadly distributed, but is classified as near-threatened because of the threat of predicted habitat loss. It is much more restricted to true rainforest than is N. arge.

The dwarf slit-faced bat is a species of slit-faced bat living in forest and savanna regions of Central Africa. Two subspecies have been identified: N. n. nana and N. n. tristis.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mongalla free-tailed bat</span> Species of bat

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Monadjem, A.; Fahr, J.; Hutson, A.M.; Mickleburgh, S.; Bergmans, W. (2017). "Nycteris arge". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T14926A22016999. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T14926A22016999.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. Thomas, O. (1903). "Three new bats from the Cameroons, discovered by Mr. G.L. Bates". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Series 7. 12: 633–635. doi:10.1080/00222930309487045.
  3. Thomas, N. M.; Harrison, D. L.; Bates, P. J. J. (1994). "A study of the baculum in the genus Nycteris (Mammalia, Chiroptera, Nycteridae) with consideration of its taxonomic importance". Bonner zoologische Beiträge. 45 (1): 17–31.
  4. Pirlot, Paul; Stephan, Heinz (1970). "Encephalization in Chiroptera". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 48 (3): 433–444. doi:10.1139/z70-075.