115.

Eisentraut’s Pipistrelle

Hypsugo eisentrauti

French: Vespére d'Eisentraut / German: Eisentraut-Zwergfledermaus / Spanish: Hypsugo de Eisentraut

Taxonomy. Pipustrellus eisentrautt Hill, 1968,

Dikume-Balue, Rumpi Highlands, Western Province, Cameroon.

Hypsugo eisentrauti appears to be sister to H. crassulus bellieri, with the two together sister to Nycticeinops schlieffenii, so they may be better transferred to Nycticeinops, this generic change is not followed here, as a broad study including more species of Hypsugo and related genera is needed. In any case, the specimens identified as H. eisentrauti that were used in genetic studies are from Ivory Coast, and may actually represent H. c. bellieri instead. Several specimens attributed to this species from the Congo Basin (DR Congo and Rwanda), East Africa (Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya), and further into West Africa (Guinea and Ivory Coast) need their true identity checked; some of the specimens from the Congo Basin and Somalia may represent undescribed species, as they do not match the holotype of H. eisentrauti . For the present, this species is considered to be restricted to Cameroon, pending further studies. Monotypic.

Distribution. SW Cameroon; claimed records from DR Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, Guinea, and Ivory Coast are uncertain.

Descriptive notes. Tail 29-37 mm, ear 10-13 mm, forearm 33-36 mm; weight 7-8-3 g. Pelage of Eisentraut’s Pipistrelle is soft and dense; dorsally dark,slightly reddish brown (hairs unicolored or bicolored), ventrally slightly paler and more beige-colored (hairs with blackish-brown bases). Ears, face, and membranes are blackish brown. Ears are subtriangular with convex inner margins, with small basal lobe and almost straight outer margins, and rounded tip; tragusis probablyjust under one-half the ear height, and is broadest at midpoint, having almost straight anterior margin except for slight basal concavity, slightly and smoothly convex posterior margin, and rounded tip. Baculum is short and stout with bilobed base, widened tip, and broad and dorso-ventrally flattened shaft. Skull is comparatively large and robust; braincase is moderately high and wide, and inflated frontally; interorbital region is relatively narrow; rostrum is massive, deep, and relatively long and broad; supraorbital region is expanded so that dorsal surface of rostrum is roughly pentagonal in outline; forehead is very weakly concave, nearly straight; sagittal and lambdoidal crests are weakly developed. I? is long and bicuspid; I’ is unicuspid but with low lateral cingulum cusp, and is slender and small; P* is usually present, and minute to medium-sized, usually visible above gum but displaced lingually; C' and P* are almost in contact; and lower molars are myotodont (one specimen from type series had nyctalodont molars, but is not now considered to representthis species). Rwandan specimens had chromosomal complement of 2n = 42 and FNa = 58, but these specimens may not represent this species.

Habitat. Fisentraut’s Pipistrelle has been recorded from montane tropical moist forest and may occur in lowland tropical moist forest, tropical dry forest, and mangrove forest. Reported at elevations of 850-2235 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red Lust (as Pipistrellus eisentrauti). There is considerable confusion surrounding the taxonomy and distribution ofthis species, and a full assessment is thus impossible meantime.

Bibliography. ACR (2018), Fahr (2008f), Hill (1968a), Kerbis Peterhans et al. (2013), Monadjem, Richards et al. (2013), Roehrs et al. (2011), Van Cakenberghe & Happold (2013g), Varty & Hill (1988), Volleth et al. (2001).