321.

Coppery Woolly Bat

Kerivoula cuprosa

French: Kérivoule cuivrée / German: Kupferfarbige Wollfledermaus / Spanish: Querivoula cobrizo

Other common names: Copper Woolly Bat

Taxonomy. Kerivoula cuprosa Thomas, 1912,

“Bitye, Ja River, S.E. Cameroons [= Cameraon). 2000’ [= 610 m].”

Specimens of K. cuprosa have been confused with K. smithii . Monotypic.

Distribution. Known from few scattered localities in Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and DR Congo; possibly in Ghana.

Descriptive notes. Head-body ¢. 34-39 mm, tail 40-44 mm, ear 12-14 mm, hindfoot 5-8-7- 5 mm, forearm 30-33 mm; weight 4- 4-5 g. Pelage is dense, woolly, and frizzled, with many hairs having hooked tips. Dorsal pelage is dark or chocolatebrown, with golden sheen or singed appearance; hairs are dark brown, with terminal one-third bright rusty brown or chocolate-brown; many hairs have pale brown hooked tips. Mid-dorsal hairs are c. 7-8 mm. Dorsal pelage extends onto surfaces of forearm and tibia. Ventral pelage 1s duller brown; hairs are dark grayish brown, with terminal one-third paler and whitish or cream tips on some hairs. Wings and uropatagium are dark brown. Posterior margin of uropatagium has thinly scattered curled hairs but no comb-like fringe of hooked, bristle-like hairs; proximal one-third of dorsal surface is sparsely covered with hairs. Head is high-domed. Muzzle is long, pointed, and hidden by facial pelage. Ears are widely separated, funnel-shaped, short for a vespertilionid, and brown. Tragus is moderately long and narrow, tapering to sharp point, curved outward, and with its base having small lobule above which there is an emargination. Eyes are small. Skull is small (greatest skull lengths 12-:3-13- 1 mm) and has high-domed cranium, rostrum is narrow, and frontal region is sharply angular to plane of rostrum as in other species of Kerivoula . Upper incisors are shorter than in Spurrell’s Woolly Bat ( K. phalaena) and Smith’s Woolly Bat ( K. smithii); I? is bicuspid, with second cusp one-half the length of main cusp; I? is about one-half to two-thirds the height of I? and unicuspid or weakly bicuspid, with secondary cusp oriented posterointernally; I, is tricuspid; and lower premolars are subequal in height, but P, is broader than P, and P,.

Habitat. Lowland rainforests, swamp forests, and forest-savanna mosaic at elevations up to 600 m. In Ivory Coast, Coppery Woolly Bats were caught in dense vegetation with harp traps placed 1-5 m aboveground.

Food and Feeding. The Coppery Woolly Bat foragesin cluttered spaces and seems to be a gleaner. Delicate skull suggests consumption of soft-bodied arthropods.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Wings are broad, and flight is highly maneuverable. Coppery Woolly Bats might roost among leaves. Echolocation calls are steep, broadband FM calls.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Ectoparasites include the mite Olabidocarpus belsorum (Acari, Chirodiscidae).

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. ACR (2017), Fahr (2013ab).