[Mammalogy • 2025] Pipistrellus etula • Taxonomic Revision of African pipistrelle-like Bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) with A New Species from the West Congolean Rainforest

  

Pipistrellus etula

Torrent, Juste, Garin, Aihartza, Dalton, Mamba, Tanshi, Powell, Padidar, Mudarra, Richards & Monadjem, 2025

Bioko pipistrelle  ||  DOI: doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf020 

https://www.batcon.org

Abstract

The taxonomic conundrum of pipistrelle-like or pipistrelloid bats remains one of the unsolved challenges posed by African Chiroptera. Historically, their cryptic morphology has led to a frequently confused classification and cast doubt on taxonomic arrangements at both genus and species levels. While molecular analyses and extensive reviews of specimens housed in collections worldwide have clarified many systematic relationships among pipistrelloid bats, some species still require validation, leaving gaps in our overall understanding of the systematics of the group. The Congo rainforest, one of Africa's least explored regions, remains underrepresented in systematic studies of pipistrelloid bats. In this study, we combine the use of two mitochondrial genes and cranial morphometric analyses to provide an updated perspective on African pipistrelloid bats, focusing on new material from Equatorial Guinea sampled over multiple years. We confirm the placement of Af. musciculus and Af. crassulus within the genus Afropipistrellus. The former was previously included in Hypsugo, while the latter lacked generic confirmation. Additionally, we describe a new species of Pipistrellus from Bioko Island, Central Africa, uncovered during systematic bat surveys in the region. Further surveys in the Congo rainforest are needed to unveil African bat diversity and its phylogenetic relationships fully.

Africa, baculum, Chiroptera, genus revision, Mammalia, mitochondrial DNA, morphometrics, systematics, taxonomy

Portrait of a Pipistrellus etula sp. nov. female captured in Basilé Peak, Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea.

Photo by Gerard Carbonell.

Family Vespertilionidae Gray, 1821 

Tribe Pipistrellini Tate, 1942 

Genus Pipistrellus Kaup, 1829 

Pipistrellus etula Torrent et al., sp. nov. 

Bioko pipistrelle 

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

Laura Torrent, Javier Juste, Inazio Garin, Joxerra Aihartza, Desiré L Dalton, Mnqobi Mamba, Iroro Tanshi, Luke L Powell, Sara Padidar, Juan Luis Garcia Mudarra, Leigh Richards and Ara Monadjem. 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); zlaf020, DOI: doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf020  [13 June 2025]

https://www.batcon.org/press/1500th-bat-species-discovered-in-africas-equatorial-guinea/

[Botany • 2025] Blakea graciliflora (Melastomataceae: Pyxidantheae) • A New Species from the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia

  

Blakea graciliflora Urrea, Ariza-Cortés & Humberto Mend.,

in Urrea, Mendoza-Cifuentes et Ariza-Cortés, 2025. 

DOI: doi.org/10.1007/s12228-025-09840-3 

 Researchgate.net/publication/391155588

Abstract

Blakea graciliflora, a new species of Melastomataceae from the western slopes of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia, is described and illustrated, along with comments on its etymology, distribution, phenology, conservation status, and taxonomic affinities. Blakea graciliflora is a species readily distinguished by its obovate to obovate-elliptic leaf blades with acuminate apices, abaxial leaf surfaces that are densely covered with tiny lepidote trichomes, basally fused outer floral bracteoles free inner floral bracteoles, both pairs of which are equal to shorter than calyx lobes, isomorphic stamens that form a complete ring around the style, and anther connectives that are dorso-basally prolonged into a triangular spur. The new species is endemic to a relatively small area with an important anthropogenic influence, so it is preliminarily categorized as Endangered (EN) according to the IUCN Red List. The discovery of this new species underscores the state of the Andean forests in this region and the importance of their exploration and conservation.

Keywords: Andes, Andean forests, endemism, Myrtales, taxonomy

Blakea graciliflora Urrea, Ariza-Cortés & Humberto Mend., sp. nov.

 

Johan Urrea, Humberto Mendoza-Cifuentes & William Ariza-Cortés. 2025. A New Species of Blakea (Melastomataceae: Pyxidantheae) from the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. Brittonia. 77, 194–200. DOI: doi.org/10.1007/s12228-025-09840-3 [25 April 2025]  

 Researchgate.net/publication/391155588_A_new_species_of_Blakea_from_Colombia

[Arachnida • 2022] Phrynarachne dreepy, P. xuxiake, ... • Taxonomic Notes on the Genus Phrynarachne (Araneae: Thomisidae) from China

 

 Phrynarachne xuxiake sp. nov., juvenile. 
 P. dreepy sp. nov., female life.

Lin & S. Li,

in Lin, Yu, Koomen, Yan et Li. 2022. 

DOI:  10.3897/zookeys.1085.77966

Abstract    

Four new species of the genus Phrynarachne Thorell, 1869 from China are described: P. dreepy Lin & S. Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), P. xuxiake Lin & S. Li, sp. nov. (♀), P. yunhui Lin & S. Li, sp. nov. (♀), and P. zhengzhongi Lin & S. Li, sp. nov. (♀). The unknown sexes of P. brevis Tang & S. Li, 2010 (♂), P. huangshanensis Li et al., 1985 (♀), P. lancea Tang & S. Li, 2010 (♂), and P. mammillata Song, 1990 (♀) are described for the first time. Phrynarachne sinensis Peng, Yin & Kim is treated as a nomen dubium.

Keywords: Diagnosis, new species, nomen dubium, type specimens

 

(B) Phrynarachne xuxiake sp. nov., juvenile. 
(C) Phrynarachne dreepy sp. nov., female life.

Photos by Fan Gao (B); Chao Wu (C).

Phrynarachne spp., live
A P. brevis, adult female B P. xuxiake sp. nov., juvenile.

 Photos by Chao Wu (A) and Fan Gao (B).

 Yejie Lin, Long Yu, Peter Koomen, Xunyou Yan and Shuqiang Li. 2022. Taxonomic Notes on the Genus Phrynarachne from China (Araneae, Thomisidae). ZooKeys. 1085: 69-99.  DOI:  10.3897/zookeys.1085.77966