Andersen's slit-faced bat
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Nycteridae
Genus: Nycteris
Species:
N. aurita
Binomial name
Nycteris aurita
Synonyms
  • Petalia aurita K. Andersen, 1912

Andersen's slit-faced bat (Nycteris aurita) is a slit-faced bat species found in East Africa. It has been recorded in Somaliland, through South Sudan and Ethiopia, into Kenya and Tanzania. No information is available on the population size of this species, which inhabits savanna habitats and semidesert.[1]

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described as a new species in 1912 by Danish mammalogist Knud Andersen. Andersen placed it in the now-defunct genus Petalia, with a binomial of Petalia aurita.[2] Since at least 1939, however, it has been included in the genus Nycteris.[3] Its species name "aurita" is from Latin "auritus", meaning "having long ears". Andersen wrote that it was similar in appearance to the hairy slit-faced bat with the exception of its "much longer" ears.[2] Still, it is often considered as a synonym or subspecies of the hairy slit-faced bat.[4]

Range and status

Its range includes several countries in East Africa, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Somaliland, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. It is documented in association with savanna habitats, though it has also been found in semi-arid climates[1]

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

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Monadjem, A.; Bergmans, W.; Mickleburgh, S.; Hutson, A.M. (2017). "Nycteris aurita". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T14927A22017608. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T14927A22017608.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Andersen, K. (1912). "LXIV.—Brief diagnoses of eight new Petalia, with a list of the known forms of the genus". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 8. 10 (59): 547–548. doi:10.1080/00222931208693267.
  3. ↑ Allen, G. M. (1939). "A checklist of African mammals". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 83: 68.
  4. ↑ Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
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