Abstract
AbstractA new species of horseshoe bat,Rhinolophus sakejiensis, is described from south‐central Africa, near the source of the Zambezi River in north‐west Zambia. A distinct combination of noseleaf, cranial and baculum characters are diagnostic of the species. It is a member of theferrumequinumgroup, and its evolutionary affinities lie closest toR. clivosusCretzschmar, 1828 and particularly the West AfricanR. hillorumKoopman, 1989. This discovery of a new species ofRhinolophusin theclivosuscomplex required reappraisal of these and other related taxa. Known only from high forest in West Africa,hillorumis the closest relative ofsakejiensiscollected in mesic savanna in south‐central Africa. Comparisons of this new species with other large AfrotropicalRhinolophusshows thathillorumis specifically distinct fromclivosus, and endorses the specific status ofdeckeniandsilvestris. The contemporary taxonomy of AfrotropicalRhinolophuswas incapable of accommodating this new taxon, and the latter part of this paper argues for a more objective characterization of rhinolophids as evolutionary species.
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