First record and echolocation call of Glauconycteris argentata (Dobson, 1875) from Gabon

Peereboom, D., S. van Lieshout, K.J. Jeffery & W. Bergmans

2012

African Bat Conservation News

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The insectivorous bat fauna of Gabon is still poorly known despite the detailed studies of Brosset in the Makokou and Bélinga regions (BROSSET, 1966, BROSSET, 1969). After Brosset several smaller studies on insectivoures bats were conducted, on species diversity in the Gamba protected area complex (RODRIGUEZ et al. 2006) and on bats and infectious diseases (POURRUT et al., 2007; TOWNER et al., 2007; POURRUT et al., 2009; MAGANGA et al., 2011). In total 37 species of insectivorous Chiroptera have been recorded for Gabon (BROSSET, 1966; AFRICAN CHIROPTERA REPORT, 2011). We carried out a bat study in a forest-savanna mosaic in northern Lopé National Park, central Gabon, from January to April 2010. The purpose of this study was to describe the calls of insectivorous bat species occurring in the Central African forest zone, thereby serving as a basis for acoustic bat surveys in this biome. Acoustic surveys can improve our knowledge of the distribution and ecology of insectivorous bats. This knowledge could help clarify their role as virus disperser to enable their inclusion in conservation schemes. Here we present a description of the echolocation calls of Glauconycteris argentata (Dobson, 1875) and the first record of this species for Gabon.