A new genus for a rare African vespertilionid bat: insights from South Sudan

Abstract

A new genus is proposed for the strikingly patterned African vespertilionid “Glauconycteris” superba Hayman, 1939 on the basis of cranial and external morphological comparisons. A review of the attributes of a newly collected specimen from South Sudan (a new country record) and other museum specimens of “Glauconycteris” superba suggests that “Glauconycteris” superba is markedly distinct ecomorphologically from other species classified in Glauconycteris and is likely the sister taxon to Glauconycteris sensu stricto. The recent capture of this rarely collected but widespread bat highlights the need for continued research in tropical sub-Saharan Africa and in particular, for more work in western South Sudan, which has received very little scientific attention. New country records for Glauconycteris cf. poensis (South Sudan) and Glauconycteris curryae (Gabon) are also reported.

Multilocus phylogeny and species delimitation within the genusGlauconycteris(Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae), with the description of a new bat species from the Tshopo Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

“…However, our nuclear analyses provided strong support for a sister‐group relationship between G. superba and G. variegata (Figure ), which invalidates the taxonomic conclusion of Reeder et al. (). Hence, we recommend that the species G. superba should be retained in the genus Glauconycteris .…”

“…Reeder et al. () based their conclusion to place this species in its own genus Niumbaha solely on morphological characters. Our morphological analysis using both quantitative and qualitative variables (Figure ) corroborates their finding that G. superba is readily distinguishable from other species of Glauconycteris , mainly based on its larger body size and unique pelage pattern.…”

“…(). Because of its unique morphology, the pied butterfly bat ( G. superba ) has been considered as the sister‐group of Glauconycteris sensu stricto and placed into its own genus Niumbaha by Reeder, Helgen, Vodzak, Lunde, and Ejotre (). This taxonomic hypothesis, however, has not been tested using molecular data.…”

An integrative approach to characterize Malagasy bats of the subfamily Vespertilioninae Gray, 1821, with the description of a new species ofHypsugo

“…(e.g. Volleth et al ., ; Kearney et al ., ; Roehrs et al ., ; Koubínová et al ., ; Reeder et al ., ), relationships at the generic level seem largely in order.…”

The bats of the Congo and of Rwanda and Burundi revisited (Mammalia: Chiroptera)

“…In 1972, a third specimen was collected in Côte d'Ivoire. In the next 40 years, not a single specimen of this species was found, but in 2012 two animals were collected: one in the Bangangai Game Reserve, South Sudan (Reeder et al 2013), and one from Mbiye Island, near Kisangani, Tshopo Province, DRC (Gembu Tungaluna et al 2013: 18). In 2015, another specimen was collected on Mbiye Island.…”