Lander's horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus landeri'') is a species of bat in the family Rhinolophidae found in Africa. Its natural habitats are savanna and caves.

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described as a new species in 1837 by English naturalist William Charles Linnaeus Martin. The eponym for the species name "''landeri''" was explorer

Richard Lander Richard Lemon Lander (8 February 1804 – 6 February 1834) was a British explorer of western Africa. He and his brother John were the first Europeans to follow the course of the River Niger, and discover that it led to the Atlantic. Biograp ...

. Martin named the species after Lander because the holotype had been collected during Lander's expedition to Fernando Pó. It was Martin's intention to posthumously honor Lander, calling him "enterprising, but unfortunate" after his untimely death at age 29.

Description

It is a medium-sized member of its family. Individuals weigh . Total length is approximately ; tail length is and forearm length is .

Range and habitat

It has been widely documented throughout

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

. Individuals have been found at relatively high elevations—up to above sea level on Kenya's

Mount Elgon Mount Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya, north of Kisumu and west of Kitale. The mountain's highest point, named "Wagagai", is located entirely within Uganda.

Conservation

It is currently evaluated as least concern 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. It meets the criteria for this assessment because it has a wide geographic range; its population size is likely large; and it unlikely that it is in rapid decline.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1764415 Rhinolophidae Mammals described in 1838 Taxa named by William Charles Linnaeus Martin Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Bats of Africa