Taxonomy and Zoogeography of the fruits bats of the People’s Republic of Congo, with notes on their reproductive bilogy (Mammalia, Megachiroptera)

This study deals with 272 Megachiroptera from the People’s Republic of Congo, belonging to 13 taxa: Eidolon helvum helvum (Kerr), Rousettus aegyptiacus unicolor (Gray), Lissonycteris angolensis angolensis (Bocage), Myonycteris torquata (Dobson), Hypsignathus monstrosus Allen, Epomops franqueti franqueti (Tomes), Epomophorus cf. labiatus (Temminck), Epomophorus wahlbergi haldemani (Halowell), Micropteropus grandis Sanborn, Micropteropus pusillus (Peters), Scotonycteris zenkeri zenkeri Matschie, Scotonycteris ophiodon Pohle, and Megaloglossus woermanni Pagenstecher. Of these, Epomophorus cf. labiatus and Micropteropus grandis are recorded from this country for the first time. The known ranges of Epomophorus cf. labiatus and Micropteropus grandis are greatly extended towards the west. In morphology and zoogeography ten species correspond with populations to the north and, with the possible exception of both Scotonycteris species, to the south; towards the east the distribution of Rousettus aegyptiacus and both Scotonycteris species is possibly discontinuous. The two Epomophorus species and Micropteropus grandis are linked with populations towards the south and east only. Seasonal biannual reproduction is assumed for Epomophorus wahlbergi Epomops franqueti, and Micropteropus pusillus. Data on reproduction in other species are scarce or lacking.