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Myotis nimbaensis
Simmons, Flanders, Fils, Parker, Suter, Bamba, Douno, Keita, Morales & Frick, 2021
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Abstract
The genus Myotis is a diverse group of vespertilionid bats found on nearly every continent. One clade in this group, the subgenus Chrysopteron, is characterized by reddish to yellowish fur and, in some cases, visually striking dichromatic wing pigmentation. Here, we describe a new dichromatic species of Myotis (Chrysopteron) from the Nimba Mountains in Guinea. The new species is superficially similar to Myotis welwitschii, but phylogenetic analyses based on cytochrome b data indicated that it is actually more closely related to M. tricolor. Discovery of this new taxon increases the number of Myotis species known from mainland Africa to 11 species, although patterns of molecular divergence suggest that cryptic species in the Chrysopteron clade remain to be described. This discovery also highlights the critical importance of the Nimba Mountains as a center of bat diversity and endemism in sub-Saharan Africa.
SYSTEMATICS
Family Vespertilionidae Gray, 1821
Subfamily Myotinae Tate 1942
Genus Myotis Kaup, 1829
Subgenus Chrysopteron Jentink, 1910
Myotis nimbaensis, new species
Nimba Myotis
Etymology: Myotis nimbaensis (“from Nimba”) is named in recognition of the mountain range in which it was discovered. As an epithet referring to a place, nimbaensis is spelled the same way whether applied in combination with either a masculine or a feminine genus name. Woodman (1993) argued that Myotis should be considered feminine in gender, but Pritchard (1994) disagreed. Both of these authors overlooked a 1958 ruling by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature that fixed the gender of Myotis as masculine and placed the name as such on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1958). So in this case, nimbaensis is masculine.
Distribution: Known only from the type locality and vicinity in the Guinean Nimba Mountains.
Nancy B. Simmons, Jon Flanders, Eric Moïse Bakwo Fils, Guy Parker, Jamison D. Suter, Seinan Bamba, Mory Douno, Mamady Kobele Keita, Ariadna E. Morales and Winifred F. Frick. 2021. A New Dichromatic Species of
Myotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the Nimba Mountains, Guinea.
American Museum Novitates. 3963.
digitallibrary.AMNH.org/handle/2246/7249
