The Angolan fruit bat, Angolan rousette or Silky bat (''Myonycteris angolensis'') is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Angola,

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

Republic of Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Nigeria,

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

, moist savanna, and rocky areas.

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described in 1898 by Portuguese zoologist

José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage (2 May 1823 – 3 November 1907) was a Portuguese zoologist and politician. He was the curator of Zoology at the Museu Nacional de Lisboa in Lisbon. He published numerous works on mammals, birds, and fishes. In t ...

. Bocage initially placed it in the now-defunct genus ''Cynonycteris'', with a binomial of ''C. angolensis''. Its species name "''

angolensis This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages to understand and remember the scientific names of organisms. The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants i ...

''" is Latin for "Angolan," likely in reference to the fact that the holotype was collected near

Pungo Andongo The Black Rocks at Pungo Andongo (''Pedras Negras de Pungo Andongo'') are a set of extensive monolithic rock formations, millions of years old, that stand out for their size in relation to the savanna landscape of the region. It is subdivided into ...

in Angola.

Description

Its forearm length is and it weighs .

Biology and ecology

It is frugivorous. Consumed fruits include fruits of various trees, including

fig trees ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family (biology), family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few spe ...

, ''

Anthocleista ''Anthocleista'' is a genus of tree- and shrub-like tropical plants in the gentian family, tribe Potalieae, subtribe Potaliinae. There are about 50 species in the genus, native mainly to tropical Africa, including Madagascar and the Mascarene ...

'', '' Milicia excelsa'', and '' Adenia''.

Range and habitat

The Angolan rousette has a wide range encompassing parts of West, East, and Central Africa. It is found from sea level to above sea level.

Conservation

As of 2017, it is evaluated as a least-concern species by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

. It meets the criteria for this classification because it has a wide geographic range; its population is presumably large; its range includes

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

s; it is not likely to be in rapid population decline; and it tolerates a degree of anthropogenic habitat disturbance.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1763830 Lissonycteris Mammals of Angola Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage Bats of Africa Mammals described in 1898 Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN