Nycteris arge Thomas, 1903

Nycteris arge Thomas, 1903: 633 .

COMMON NAME. — Bate’s Slit faced Bat.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Apesokubi • 1 ♀; SMF 92126; 26.VIII.2001 .

REMARK

Although this bat is known from the Upper Guinea Region west of the Volta River and from central and southern Nigeria (Happold 1987), it does not seem to have been recorded from the Volta Region, or in the Dahomey Gap. The closest records are two BMNH specimens from Akaniem (Akaniem, Buem) between the Volta and Oti River branches of presentday Lake Volta (Grubb 1971). Van Cakenberghe & De Vree (1985) apparently list these specimens as being from “Akenim”, Togo. In Côte d’Ivoire, Fahr (1996) recorded six out of seven specimens of N. arge within the rainforest zone and one in forest-savanna mosaic. Our specimen of N. arge appears to be the first one reported from the Volta Region.

CONSERVATION STATUS. — Although classified as a species of “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List, as a mostly forest-dependent species, N. arge is of some conservation concern in the Ghana-Togo Highlands.