Tadarida ventralis Heuglin 1862

110.

African Giant Free-tailed Bat

Tadarida ventralis

French: Tadaride africaine / German: Grol3e Afrika-Bulldogfledermaus / Spanish: Murciélago rabudo africano

Other common names: Giant Free-tailed Bat, Giant African Free-tailed Bat, Giant Guano Bat, Giant African Guano Bat, Transvaal Free-tailed Bat

Taxonomy. Nyctinomus (Dysopes) ventralis Heuglin, 1862,

Keren, Eritrea.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. Occurs sparsely but widely in NE, k 8% SE Africa, including Eritrea, Ethiopia, S South Sudan, E DR Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and NE South Africa (N Limpopo Province).

Descriptive notes. Head-body c. 91- 102 mm, tail 51-66 mm, ear 18-29 mm, hindfoot 12-14 mm, forearm 60-67 mm; weight 31-55 g. The African Giant Freetailed Bat is larger than most other African free-tailed bats. Pelage is dark brown, chocolate-brown or rusty brown above, and paler below with mid-ventral white to off-white stripe, and flank-stripe same color as flank; an orange morph is orangebrown above and yellowish below. Upper lip lacks well-defined wrinkles and has relatively few spoon-hairs. Ears are brown and relatively small, extending to middle of snout when laid forward. Tragus is large, roughly rectangular, and not concealed by antitragus, which is low, triangular, and not much larger than tragus. There is no interaural crest. Gular gland is present in both sexes, more conspicuous in males. Wing and interfemoral membranes are semi-translucent and dark brown to almost black. Ventral sides of forearms are naked and white, and ventral sides of legs naked and brownish. Although some sources say that thumb pads and plantar (sole) pads are missing in this species, a fluid-preserved specimen collected from northern South Africa possessed clear thumb and plantar pads. Skull is not extremely flattened. Anterior palatal emargination is wide, and basisphenoid pits are deep. Dental formulais1 1/2, C 1/1, P 2/2 M 3/3(x2) = 30.

Habitat. Semiarid savannas containing rocky crevices and gorges, as well as montane habitats (above 1400 m) in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and the Soutpansberg of northeastern South Africa.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. The African Giant Free-tailed Bat is nocturnal. Specimens have been caught emerging from the roofs of houses, and one was collected from a high-rise building in Harare, Zimbabwe. The species produces echolocation calls with low peak frequency (c.19 kHz), narrow bandwidth (c.4 kHz), and long duration (c.9 milliseconds).

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. The African Giant Free-tailed Bat is thought to be a rare bat and is seldom caught, although based on acoustic data from the Soutpansberg reported by P. J. Taylor and colleagues in 2015, it seems possible that the species may be fairly common butjust much underrepresented in collections.

Bibliography. Cotterill (1996b, 2001b, 20130), Mickleburgh, Hutson, Bergmans & Cotterill (2008b), Taylor et al. (2015).