Pipistrellus kuhlii Juste and Ibáñez (1994b)

Torrent, Laura, Juste, Javier, Garin, Inazio, Aihartza, Joxerra, Dalton, Desiré L., Mamba, Mnqobi, Tanshi, Iroro, Powell, Luke L., Padidar, Sara, Mudarra, Juan Luis Garcia, Richards, Leigh & Monadjem, Ara, 2025, Taxonomic revision of African pipistrelle-like bats with a new species from the West Congolean rainforest, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 204 (2) : -

Pipistrellus kuhlii Juste and Ibáñez (1994b)

Holotype: EBD 19203 M. Te bat was collected by Javier Juste. It is an adult male fixed in formalin and currently preserved in 70% alcohol, with the skull and baculum extracted and cleaned. Photographs of the fur, tragus, rhinarium, and thumb are illustrated in Figures 8 and 9, while the skull and mandible are illustrated in Figure 10. Te penis and the baculum are presented in Figures 6 and 7.

Type locality: Biao Lake , Bioko Island , Equatorial Guinea ( Figs 1, 11A). It was neted on 14 April 1989 in the montane forest of the slopes of Biao Peak, which shelters the crater that currently forms Biao Lake (3.3554666N; 8.6211751E) at an elevation of 1826 m above sea level (a.s.l.).

Etymology: ‘etula’ means island or nation in the language of the original Bubi people of Bioko Island.

Paratypes: Tree additional bats, identified as belonging to this new species, were captured at the type locality on 13 April 1989 ( EBD 19086 M, male) and 15 April 1989 ( EBD 19087 M, male and EBD 19088 M, female). Te individual EBD 19086 M was sequenced and grouped with the holotype in the Cytb phylogeny ( Fig. 4) .

Diagnosis

A medium-sized pipistrelloid bat, assigned to the genus Pipistrellus based on the presence of a small anterior upper premolar, the baculum shape ( Hill and Harrison 1987) and Cytb and COI phylogenies ( Fig. 4; Supporting Information, Fig. S1). Te cranium is more inflated in Pipistrellus etula sp. nov. than in most Afopipistrellus , except Af. eisentrauti and Af. happoldorum . Pipistrellus etula sp. nov. is separated from Pi. simandouensis by its lighter bicoloured pelage ( Fig. 8), the shape of the penis and baculum, and the tragus notch ( Figs 6, 7; Supporting Information, Fig. S5), and the lingual position of the upper anterior premolar ( Fig. 10). Te penis of Pi. etula sp. nov. has a white protuberance located on the extremity of the prepuce, which is absent in Pi. simandouensis ( Fig. 6), and the baculum of Pi. etula sp. nov. is longer, the bilobed base is more elongated, and the tip is narrower and sharper than in Pi. simandouensis ( Fig. 7; Table 5). Pipistrellus etula sp. nov. can be distinguished from Pi. hesperidus by its tragus notch, and the shape of the penis and baculum ( Figs 6, 7; Supporting Information, Fig. S5). Te baculum of Pi. etula sp. nov. is longer, and the tip is more pointed than in Pi. hesperidus ( Fig. 7; Table 5). However, these three species widely overlap in craniodental and external measurements ( Tables 6–8). Pipistrellus etula sp. nov. is larger in external and cranial features than Pi. nanulus Tomas, 1904 , Pi. rusticus Tomes 1861 , Pi. aero Heller, 1912 , and Pi. inexspectatus Aellen, 1959 . It is easily distinguished from Vansonia rueppellii , which has pure white underparts (Moratelli et al. 2019, Monadjem et al. 2021a).

Description

External characters Pipistrellus etula sp. nov. is a medium-sized pipistrelloid bat (similar in size to Pi. simandouensis and Pi. hesperidus ), but large for the genus Pipistrellus . It is the largest known species within the genus in Africa (all measurements except total length are greater than in Pi. simandouensis and is larger than Pi. hesperidus ), with a total length of 82.0–85.0 mm and a forearm length of 34.4–37.0 mm ( Table 6). Te dorsal pelage is light brown (cinnamon colour), while the ventral pelage is paler, with the individual hairs being bicoloured and tipped lighter than the bases ( Fig. 8). Te patagium and uropatagium are both dark brown. Tere is a distinct, but small, pad at the base of the thumb ( Fig. 9C, F). Te ears and the tragus are typical for the genus Pipistrellus ( Figs 9A, D, 12; Supporting Information, Fig. S5). Te shape of the ears is subtriangular, rounded at the tip, and dark brown ( Fig. 12). Te tragus ( Fig. 9A, D) is moderately long but does not reach half of the length of the ear ( Fig. 12). It is relatively broad with a straight leading edge; the outer edge is convex above, with a well-defined notch below and a pointed projection above the base (Supporting Information, Fig. S5). Te rhinarium fits the shape described for the genus Pipistrellus ( Huterer et al. 2019a) , with terminal parts well-defined and the nostrils projecting from the snout ( Fig. 9B, E). Te external measurements of the holotype, paratypes, and other specimens of Pipistrellus etula sp. nov. are shown in Table 6.

Te penis of Pi. etula sp. nov. is relatively long (8.21 mm in ENMNH EQ034), wider in the prepuce than at the base, and entirely covered with short, whitish hairs ( Fig. 6; Table 5). Te prepuce shows a white protuberance, contrasting with its otherwise yellowish coloration. Te total length of the penis is about 10% of the total body length ( Table 5). Te baculum of Pi. etula sp. nov. is slightly longer and overall larger than the bacula of Pi. simandouensis and Pi. hesperidus , with a total length of 1.80 mm ( Fig. 7; Table 5). In Pi. etula sp. nov., the tip is bifurcate and the base is distinctly bilobed with a deep ridge ( Fig. 7).

Craniodental characters Te skull is relatively robust for a Pipistrellus , while the rostrum is neither particularly broad nor narrow. Te braincase is moderately inflated and rises above the level of the rostrum ( Fig. 10), in contrast to the relatively flater skulls of Afopipistrellus (except for Af. eisentrauti and Af. happoldorum ) ( Table 7; Supporting Information, Table S5). Cranial measurements for the holotype, the paratypes, and other specimens of Pi. etula sp. nov. are shown in Table 7. Te dentition of Pi. etula sp. nov. is I 2/3, C 1/1, P 2/3, M 2/3, which is typical of the genus Pipistrellus . In the upper tooth row, I 1 is not bifid, and I 2 is relatively small, not reaching half the height of I 1. P 1 is small, displaced lingually in the toothrow, and not visible laterally ( Fig. 10). Lower incisors are trifid, which is typical of the genus Pipistrellus . Dental measurements for the holotype, the paratypes, and other specimens of Pi. etula sp. nov. are shown in Table 8.

Biology Pipistrellus etula sp. nov. is currently known only from two localities on Bioko Island, based on seven sequenced specimens (appearing in Fig. 4): two specimens from Biao Lake, and five specimens from Basilé Peak. Moreover, tissue samples and acoustic recordings of five more individuals (captured and released) were collected from Basilé Peak. Both localities are old volcanos with summits from 2007 to 3011 m a.s.l.; thus, we expect this is a species closely associated with montane forested habitats ( Fig. 11A, B) .

Te Pi. etula sp. nov. specimen ENMNH EQ033 echolocated at a FME (StartF and EndF) of 40.2 kHz (100.3 and 32.5 kHz). Te mean (± SD) FME (StartF and EndF) for two other Pi. etula sp. nov. individuals (ENMNH EQ032 and 240130P3) at Basilé Peak locality was 40.0 ± 1.31 kHz (101.8 ± 3.73 and 30.9 ± 3.28 kHz) ( Table 2).