Rhinolophus hillorum Koopman 1989
Creators: name: Burgin, Connor
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Rhinolophidae
Rhinolophus
Rhinolophus hillorum

description: 28. Upland Horseshoe <b>Bat</b> <i>Rhinolophus hillorum</i> French: Rhinolophe de Lofa / <b>German:</b> Hochland-Hufeisennase / <b>Spanish:</b> Herradura montana <b>Other common names:</b> Hill's Horseshoe Bat <b>Taxonomy.</b> <i>Rhinolophus clivosus hillorum</i> Koopman, 1989, “ John Hegbe Farm near Zozoma, ca. 2 mi [= 3- 2 km] SW Voinjama in Lofa <i>County</i>, extreme northwestern Liberia at ca. 500 m elevation.” <i>Rhinolophus hillorum</i> is in the <i> <i>ferrumequinum</i> species group. It has been included as a subspecies of <i>R clivosus</i> but is now generally recognized as a distinct species. Monotypic.</i> Distribution. Scattered records from SE Guinea, N Liberia, S Nigeria, and W Cameroon with certainty; probably erroneous records from SE South Sudan, N Uganda, and S Kenya. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head—body <i>c</i>. 64—71 mm, tail 30-41 mm, ear 21—24 mm, hindfoot 12-14 mm, forearm 52-57 mm; weight 16- 5-25 g. The Upland Horseshoe <b>Bat</b> is large, with medium brown to grayish brown dorsum and paler venter. No orange morph has been reported. Males lack axillary tufts. Ears are <i>short</i> (37-44% of forearm length) and have 11-12 internal folds. Lancet is wide and almost parallel-sided at base; tip of lancet is <i>very</i> narrow, hairy, and slightly rounded; connecting process is narrow, high, rounded, ellipsoid in profile, much higher than sella tip, and liberally covered with hair; sella is naked, nearly parallel-sided (diverging slighdy toward top) and rounded at top; and horseshoe is <i>relatively</i> narrow at 8-3-9- 1 mm, does not completely cover muzzle, lacks lateral leaflets, and has distinct median emargination. Lower lip has single groove. <i>Wings</i> and uropatagium are blackish brown. Skull is exceptionally robust, with thick, broad zygomatic arches (zygomatic width is much larger than mastoid width); rostrum is very broad; nasal swellings are very low; frontal depression is very shallow; supraorbital crest is apparently not well defined; and sagittal crest is well developed anteriorly and moderately defined posteriorly. P2 is <i>absent</i>, allowing C1 and P4 to touch; P is also <i>absent</i>, so P and P4 are in contact; and P2 is one-half to two-thirds height of P4 Dental formula is then 11/2, C 1/1, P 1/2, <b>M</b> 3/3 (x2) = 28. Habitat. Montane forests, montane grasslands, dense rainforests, secondary forest, and gallery forests surrounded by savanna in highlands of Guinea, Liberia, and Cameroon and lowland and coastal rainforests surrounding these areas, primarily at elevations of 1400-1950 m. <b>Food and</b> Feeding. The Upland Horseshoe Bat is insectivorous and probably <i>occasionally</i> forages by perch-hunting. Breeding. A pregnant Upland Horseshoe Bat was captured in lateJune. Litter size is one. <b>Activity patterns.</b> Upland Horseshoe Bats are nocturnal and can enter torpor while roosting during the day. <b>They</b> roost in caves, abandoned mines, and under bridges. <b>Movements, Home range and Social</b> organization. Upland Horseshoe Bats have been recorded roosting in small groups (ten individuals in one group in Liberia) and sharing roosts with the Angolan Soft-furred Fruit <b>Bat</b> <i>(Lissonycteris angolensis),</i> the Bushveld Horseshoe Bat <i>{simulator),</i> and the Guinean Horseshoe <b>Bat</b> <i>{guineensis).</i> <b>Status and</b> Conservation. Classified as Near Threatened on <i>The IUCNRed List.</i> The Upland Horseshoe Bat is known from very few scattered records and is considered rare, threatened by habitat loss and destruction from agricultural expansion and planned large-scale mining. It is possibly threatened by exploitation for bushmeat. <b>Bibliography.</b> ACR (2018), Csorba et <i>al.</i> (2003), Cotterill (2002a), Fahr (2013f), Happold (1987), Jacobs <i>et al.</i> (2010), Koopman (1989), Koopman et <i>al.</i> (1995), Monadjem, Richards &amp; Denys (2016).
description: Published as part of <i>Burgin, Connor, 2019, Rhinolophidae, pp. 280-332 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions</i> on page 294, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3748525