Abstract
Bat distributions are still comparatively poorly known in Africa and updated national species lists do not exist for many countries. We present a revised checklist of the bats of Swaziland, which includes seven species not previously listed. Of these, two species are recent additions (Mops midas and Myotis bocagii) and these records marginally extend their known distributional range. A total of 26 species of bats are now known from the country, but additional surveys are predicted to add more taxa to the list. These new records predominantly come from human-modified landscapes, underscoring the importance of further surveys in such transformed habitats.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Hervé Echecolonea and Tina Smith for assistance in the field. The staff and residents at the Pentecostal Assemblies Church kindly gave us permission to trap at the Church. Kim Roques and All-Out Africa are thanked for their help with logistics. Bats were collected under a permit from the Swaziland National Trust Commission. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1315138 and a Student Research Grant from Bat Conservation International.
Appendix
Revised checklist of the bats of Swaziland.
| Family | Genus | Species | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pteropodidae | Epomophorus | crypturusa | Monadjem (1998) |
| Epomophorus | wahlbergi | Monadjem (1998) | |
| Rhinolophidae | Rhinolophus | blasii | Monadjem (2005) |
| Rhinolophus | clivosus | Monadjem (1998) | |
| Rhinolophus | darlingii | Monadjem (1998) | |
| Rhinolophus | simulator | Monadjem (1998) | |
| Hipposideridae | Cloeotis | percivali | Monadjem (1998) |
| Hipposideros | caffer | Monadjem (1998) | |
| Emballonuridae | Taphozous | mauritianus | Monadjem (1998) |
| Nycteridae | Nycteris | thebaica | Monadjem (1998) |
| Molossidae | Chaerephon | pumilus | Monadjem (1998) |
| Mops | condylurus | Monadjem (1998) | |
| Mops | midas | This study | |
| Miniopteridae | Miniopterus | fraterculus | Monadjem (1998) |
| Miniopterus | natalensisg | Monadjem (1998) | |
| Vespertilionidae | Hypsugo | anchietae | Monadjem and Reside (2008) |
| Kerivoula | lanosa | Monadjem and Reside (2008) | |
| Myotis | bocagii | Monadjem et al. (2010a) | |
| Myotis | tricolor | Monadjem and Reside (2008) | |
| Neoromicia | nanab | Monadjem (1998) | |
| Neoromicia | capensisc | Monadjem (1998) | |
| Neoromicia | zuluensisd | Monadjem (1998) | |
| Nycticeinops | schlieffenie | Monadjem (1998) | |
| Pipistrellus | hesperidusf | Monadjem (1998) | |
| Scotophilus | dinganii | Monadjem (1998) | |
| Scotophilus | viridis | Monadjem and Reside (2008) |
aAs Epomophorus gambianus.
bAs Pipistrellus nanus.
cAs Eptesicus capensis.
dAs Eptesicus somalicus.
eAs Nycticeius schlieffenii.
fAs Pipistrellus kuhlii.
gAs Miniopterus schreibersii.
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