Allen's striped bat (''Glauconycteris alboguttata'') is a species of

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...

in the family

Vespertilionidae Vespertilionidae is a family of microbats, of the order Chiroptera, flying, insect-eating mammals variously described as the common, vesper, or simple nosed bats. The vespertilionid family is the most diverse and widely distributed of bat familie ...

, the vesper bats. It is native to Africa, where it occurs in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. This species can be found in lowland tropical moist forests. Little else is known about it.

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described in 1917 by American mammalogist

Joel Asaph Allen Joel Asaph Allen (July 19, 1838 – August 29, 1921) was an American zoology, zoologist, mammalogy, mammalogist, and ornithology, ornithologist. He became the first president of the American Ornithologists' Union, the first curator of birds and ma ...

. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

used to describe the species had been collected by

Herbert Lang Herbert Lang (March 24, 1879 – May 29, 1957) was a German zoologist. Lang was born in Oehringen, Württemberg, Germany. His childhood interest in nature led to a job as a taxidermist and later work at the natural history museum at the Univers ...

and

James Chapin James Paul Chapin (July 9, 1889 – April 5, 1964) was an American ornithologist and curator of the American Museum of Natural History. Biography Chapin is one of the highest-regarded ornithologists of the twentieth century. He was joint leader ...

. Chapin and Lang first encountered the species in Medje,

. Its

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

"''alboguttata''" is from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

"''

albus Albus may refer to: * Albus (surname) * Albinus (cognomen), or Albus, a Latin surname * Albus (coin), ''groschen'' coin of the Holy Roman Empire * Albus, a Geomantic figure * 'Albus', a cultivar of Rosemary Entertainment * Albus Dumbledore ...

''" meaning "white" and "'' guttate''" meaning "spotted," likely referring to its white patches of fur.

Description

From head to tail, it is long. Its forearm is approximately long. Unlike Allen's spotted bat, which is similar in appearance, it does have a

calcar The calcar, also known as the calcaneum, is the name given to a spur of cartilage arising from inner side of ankle and running along part of outer interfemoral membrane in bats, as well as to a similar spur on the legs of some arthropods. The cal ...

. Its fur is

seal brown Seal brown is a rich dark brown color, resembling the color of the dyed fur from the fur seal. Usage The specifications for the U.S. Army Air Corps Type A-2 jacket (regulation summer flying jacket), adopted in 1931 and the most familiar among a ...

, with dorsal fur darker than the ventral fur. On each side of its back, it has two white patches of fur, for a total of four white spots. Each shoulder has a white spot, and there is a long, narrow stripe beneath each shoulder spot. Its

propatagium The patagium (plural: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flight. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, birds, some dromaeosaurs ...

is whitish, as well as the borders of its wings. The rest of the flight membranes and its ears are blackish brown.

Range and status

It has been documented in both

and the

. However, its range may be larger than currently known, as it is a poorly-documented species. It is currently evaluated as

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

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 ...

—its lowest conservation priority. While it is considered a rare species, it has a relatively large range and its population is likely large.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1830353 Glauconycteris Bats of Africa Taxa named by Joel Asaph Allen Mammals described in 1917 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot