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Researching little-known species: the African bat Otomops martiensseni (Chiroptera: Molossidae)

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Abstract

Listed as 'vulnerable' by the International Union for theConservation of Nature, the molossid bat Otomopsmartiensseni occurs widely in Africa and, according to someauthorities, in Madagascar. Apart from a few known cave roosts, there are fewrecords of O. martiensseni, although around Durban, SouthAfrica, the species is common and roosts in buildings. Originally described asthree species, populations of O. martiensseni differsignificantly in size (length of forearm) between East Africa and Durban orMadagascar, but not between Durban and Madagascar. Seventeen buildings used asroosts by O. martiensseni averaged 34.5 ± 15.8years old. In the Durban area, bats entered roosts by landing andcrawling. Roost populations ranged from 7 to 29 individuals, typicallyconsisting of one adult male, several adult females and young (bats withunossified epiphyses), suggesting a harem social structure. The ratio of adultfemales to young was virtually 1:1, and among young the ratio of males:femalesaveraged 2:1. Radio-tracking showed that individuals used several day and nightroosts, and foraged widely in a landscape dominated by sugarcane and urbandevelopment. The echolocation and many social calls of O.martiensseni are readily audible to human observers, allowing anon-contact, low technology method for monitoring the local distribution andactivity of these bats. Although listed as a species of special concern inKwaZulu Natal, there these bats appear to be candidates for inclusion on a'blue' list of species, ones showing stabilized or increasedabundance. We recommend that O. martiensseni be recognizedas a 'flagship' species in the Durban area, r epresenting theresilience of nature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, York University, North York, Canada, M3J 1P3

    M.B. Fenton, E. Bernard, S. Bouchard, K.R. Debaeremaeker, H. ter Hofstede, J.S. Lister, D. Rambaldini, J.M. Ratcliffe & E. Reddy

  2. Durban Natural Science Museum, Durban, South Africa

    P.J. Taylor

  3. Department of Zoology, University of Cape Town, South Africa

    D.S. Jacobs

  4. 52 Bowen Ave, Glenmore, Durban, 4001, South Africa

    E.J. Richardson

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr NW, Calgary, Canada, T2N 1N4

    L. Hollis & C.L. Lausen

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  1. M.B. Fenton
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  5. E. Bernard
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Fenton, M., Taylor, P., Jacobs, D. et al. Researching little-known species: the African bat Otomops martiensseni (Chiroptera: Molossidae). Biodiversity and Conservation 11, 1583–1606 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016807606593

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