Rhinolophus horaceki Benda &amp; Vallo 2012
Creators: name: Burgin, Connor
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Rhinolophidae
Rhinolophus
Rhinolophus horaceki

description: 34. Horacek’s Horseshoe <b>Bat</b> <i>Rhinolophus horaceki</i> French: Rhinolophe de <i>Horacek</i> / <b>German:</b> Horacek-Hufeisennase / <b>Spanish:</b> Herradura <i>de</i> Horacek <b>Taxonomy.</b> <i>Rhinolophus horaceki</i> Benda &amp; Vallo, 2012, “ Wadi Damah, 32° 42’ 06” N, 22° 36’ 40” E, ca. 6 km S of Damah, Darnah Disc, Cyrenaica, Libya.” <i>Rhinolophus horaceki</i> is in the <i>ferrumequinum</i> species group, but genetic data based solely on mitochondrial cytochrome-b have shown it to be sister to a clade including the <i>ferrumequinum</i> and <i>fumigatus</i> groups. Additional research is needed to fully <i>resolve</i> phylogenetic position of <i>R horaceki.</i> Populations <i>now</i> attributed to <i>it</i> were <i>previously</i> listed as A <i>clivosus. Monotypic</i>. <b>Distribution.</b> N Cyrenaica, NE Libya. Descriptive <b>notes.</b> <i>Head-body</i> 60 mm, tail 34 mm, ear 20-8-22- 7 mm, forearm 48- 50 mm. Horacek’s Horseshoe <i>Bat</i> is somewhat similar to the medium-sized forms of Geoffroy’s Horseshoe Bat (A <i>clivosus).</i> Dorsal pelage is brown to brownish gray; venter is grayish beige. There is no orange morph. Males lack axillary tufts. Ears are dark brown or dark grayish brown, being darker distally. <i>Noseleaf</i> has hairy, triangular lancet; connecting process is high and rounded and covered in hair; sella is pointed at tip and has concave sides; and horseshoe is narrow at 6-9-7- 6 mm wide, with welldefined median emargination. Lower lip has one medial groove. <i>Wings</i> and uropatagium are dark brown or grayish brown. Baculum is <i>relatively</i> large (3-7- 3-9 mm) and dorso-ventrally flattened on its distal two-thirds, creating lancet shape, and its proximal epiphysis is massive and laterally bifurcated. Skull is <i>relatively</i> wide; rostral region is huge, <i>relatively</i> long, and wide, but nasal swellings are comparatively undeveloped; sagittal <i>crest</i> is moderately developed; and infraorbital foramen is large, and infraorbital bar is long and thin. Teeth are relatively <i>massive</i>; upper molars are <i>relatively</i> wide; <i>P</i> 4 is <i>relatively</i> wide and mesiodistally <i>short</i>, with <i>relatively</i> very shallow concavity in distal margin of talon; P2 is minute and usually present but can be absent (rarely); and P3 is tiny and displaced labially or absent (<i>usually</i> absent), allowing P2 and P4 to touch. Dental formula is usually I 1/2, C 1/1, P 2/2, M 3/3 (x2) = 30 because a lower premolar is frequently absent, and very rarely it is I 1/2, C 1/1, P 1/2, M 3/3 (<i>x</i> 2) = 28; 11/2, C 1/1, P 2/3, M 3/3 (x2) = 32; or 11/2, C 1/1, P 1/3, M 3/3 (<i>x</i> 2) = 30. Habitat. Mainly Mediterranean deciduous woodlands and steppes from sea level to elevations of c. 660 m. <b>Food and</b> Feeding. Stomach samples of Horacek’s Horseshoe Bats revealed that they primarily <i>eat</i> medium-sized moths. <i>Twenty-six</i> fecal samples contained medium-sized moths (99-8% by volume) and a small <i>amount</i> of nematocerans (<b>Diptera</b>) (0-2%). Another set <i>of</i> 18 fecal samples included a much broader <i>variety</i> of prey, including medium-sized Lepidoptera (54%), Blattodea (38%), Formicoidea (4%), Auchenorrhyncha (2%), and Coleoptera (2%). Horacek’s Horseshoe Bats probably forage similar to Geoffroy’s Horseshoe Bats and Greater Horseshoe Bats (<i>A ferrumequinum).</i> Breeding. Pregnant Horacek’s Horseshoe Bats were collected in May, suggesting that births occur in late May or earlyJune. Subadults were captured in August. <b>Activity patterns.</b> Horacek’s Horseshoe Bats roost in natural caves; <i>they</i> also have been found in an underground part of castle ruins and an abandoned cellar. <b>Movements, Home range and Social</b> organization. Horacek’s Horseshoe Bats have been found alone or in small groups in roosts, although they can form larger colonies. They probably create maternity colonies during breeding season. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Not assessed on <i>IUCNed List.</i> Horacek’s Horseshoe Bat is endemic to a region of North Africa that is characterized as an “oasis” within the Mediterranean region. This unique habitat does not seem to have <i>many</i> major threats, but Horacek’s Horseshoe Bat has a very limited distribution and might be threatened by habitat loss or destruction. <b>Bibliography.</b> Benda &amp; Vallo (2012), Benda, Spitzenberger eta/. (2014).
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 298, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3748525