Aba roundleaf bat


The Aba roundleaf bat, also known as the Aba leaf-nosed bat is a species of bat in the family Hipposideridae. It is found in west Africa along the southern coast from Nigeria to Senegal. Populations have also been noted in Sudan and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, dry savanna, moist savanna, and caves.

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described by American zoologist Joel Asaph Allen in 1917.
Its species name abae is a New Latin derivative of Aba, which is the city where the holotype was collected.
The holotype was collected in December 1911 by German zoologist Herbert Lang and American ornithologist James Chapin as part of their expedition through Belgian Congo, as it was known at the time.
As the genus Hipposideros is quite speciose, it is divided into closely related species groups. The Aba roundleaf bat is a member of the speoris species group, which only includes it and the Schneider's leaf-nosed bat,.

Description

Allen described its dorsal fur as bistre in color from the shoulders down the rest of the body.
The head, neck, and shoulders are lighter in color than the rest of the back.
Individual hairs are bicolored on the back, with the base of the hair lighter than the tip.
The ventral fur is buffy gray in color, with the throat much lighter than the rest of the ventral surface.
Its ears and feet are light brown, while its wing membranes are dark brown.
Its total body is long; its tail is long; its foot is long; its ears are ; and its forearm is long.
Individuals are variable in color, with three different "color phases" described to classify individuals: a dark phase, a red phase, and an intermediate phase.

Range and habitat

It has been documented in the following countries: Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda.
While there are no records of it in Mali, Benin, or Chad, it is thought that it probably occurs there as well.
It is found in the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic and destroyed rainforests.
It has not been documented at elevations greater than above sea level.

Conservation

It is currently evaluated as least concern by the IUCN.
It meets the criteria for this designation because it has a wide distribution, it tolerates a degree of habitat modification, and its population is likely not in quick decline.
It can actually take advantage of deforestation by utilizing the deforested land as habitat.