The short-tailed roundleaf bat (''Hipposideros curtus'') is a species of bat in the family Hipposideridae. It is found in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

and Equatorial Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and caves. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Taxonomy

It was described as a new species in 1921 by American mammalogist

Glover Morrill Allen Glover Morrill Allen (February 8, 1879 – February 14, 1942) was an American zoologist. He was born at Walpole, New Hampshire, the son of Reverend Nathaniel Glover Allen and Harriet Ann (Schouler) Allen, and studied at Harvard University. While s ...

. 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 seve ...

had been collected in 1920 by Reverend George W. Schwab in Sackbayeme, Cameroon. Its

species name 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, bo ...

"''curtus''" is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

for "short". Morrill noted that it could be distinguished from other closely related bats by its very short tail. As the bat genus '' Hipposideros'' is very speciose, it is traditionally subdivided into species groups. The short-tailed roundleaf bat is within the ''bicolor'' species group.

Description

Its forearm length ranges from . Based on one individual, they weigh approximately .

Range and habitat

It has been confirmed in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea; additionally, its range may include

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

. It has been documented at a range of elevations from above sea level. Its habitat is lowland tropical forest. In 2016 a population of the species was discovered near to the

Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary The Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary in Cross River State in southern Nigeria covers . The wildlife sanctuary was founded in 2000 to provide refuge for endangered animal species, including the Cross River gorilla, the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee, t ...

in southern Nigeria by the ecologist

Iroro Tanshi Iroro Tanshi (born ) is a Nigerian tropical ecologist and conservationist who studies the ecology and diversity of African bats. She is a co-founder of, the Small Mammal Conservation Organisation (SMACON), a Nigerian NGO, where she is director o ...

, who worked with local people to conserve the population.

Conservation

It is listed as endangered by the IUCN. It meets the criteria for this designation because its suitable caves are probably confined to an area less than ; its habitat is fragmented; and its habitat is declining in quality in extent.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1765797 Hipposideros Mammals described in 1921 Bats of Africa Taxa named by Glover Morrill Allen Taxonomy articles created by Polbot