African bats in the collection of the National Museum, Prague (Chiroptera). II. Bats from Benin

Abstract

A list of 58 specimens of bats belonging to 16 species of six families originating from Benin, housed in the collection of the National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic, is presented in a systematic review. The specimens represent 24 new records (species vs. locality) of bats from Benin. The species lists are complemented by comments on distribution and morphometric data. The collection contains three species new for the Beninese fauna, Hipposideros jonesi, H. abae, and H. cf. lamottei, and the bat fauna of Benin now comprises 55 species in total. Scotophilus nigrita is documented from Benin for the second time, and for the first time from a specific record site in this country. Besides the majority of common bat species, considering their available records in Benin, the collection includes several other species rather uncommon in the country, such as Rhinolophus fumigatus, Hipposideros cf. ruber, Pseudoromicia rendalli, or Scotophilus livingstonii. In two of the latter group of species, the molecular genetic analysis revealed new extents of distribution for particular mitochondrial lineages in Benin, like the D lineage of H. cf. ruber or S. livingstonii s.str. As complete as possible check-list of the Beninese bat fauna comprising all known record localities is included.