The lesser Angolan epauletted fruit bat (''Epomophorus grandis'') is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry and moist lowland forest, and

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

Taxonomy

The lesser Angolan epauletted fruit bat was described as a new species in 1950 by

Colin Campbell Sanborn Colin Campbell Sanborn (1897–1962) was a US ecologist and biologist, employed as curator of birds and mammals at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. His works include taxonomic revisions of the Chiroptera bat families, and he was recog ...

. Sanborn placed it in the genus '' Micropteropus'', with a

binomen In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

of ''Micropteropus grandis''. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

had been collected at Dundo, Angola.

Description

Based on three individuals, it has a forearm length of . It has a dental formula of for a total of 28 teeth. The fur of its back is a pale, reddish-brown, while the fur of its belly is pale or whitish brown. Its ears are brown, short, and somewhat pointed at the tips.

Range and status

It is native to Africa where it has been documented in two countries:

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and the

. As of 2016, it had only been documented in the type locality of Dundo, Angola in addition to

Pointe-Noire Pointe-Noire (; kg, Njinji, french: Ndjindji with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department since 2004. Before t ...

, Congo. Its habitat is likely

, though may also include tropical forest. As of 2016, it was evaluated as a

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

species by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q305668 Epomophorus Mammals described in 1950 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Bats of Africa Taxa named by Colin Campbell Sanborn