A new species of Myotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from central Africa

Abstract

A specimen of Myotis, collected by Jean-Paul Adam and later identified as Myotis megalopus, was compared with the holotype of megalopus and also with Myotis longipes from India and Afghanistan (which currently includes megalopus as a synonym). It was also compared with M bocagii (which is sympatric and similar in size), M daubentonii from Europe (which several authors reported as being very similar), and M scotti (another sub-Saharan African species of similar size). Based on cranial and external morphology and morphometric data, Adam's specimen was found to be a new species. It differs in having the combination of a very weakly concave forehead region of the skull, relatively long feet, wing membranes attached to the bases, of the tibiae, and no backwardly-curved hairs on the margin of the interfemoral membrane. It was collected in a limestone cave at Loudima in the Republic of Congo, in degraded rainforest near a river.