Bats of Southern and Central Africa. Ara Monadjem

can exceed 91 cm. The pelage is sepia-brown to reddish-brown with white speckling on the belly. The wings are dark brown. Adult males are much larger than females, and may be distinguished by an enormous cylindrical muzzle with a blunt end. The muzzle of the female is not as exaggerated as that of the male. The face, head and shoulders are greyish with an indistinct dark line running along the midline of the top of the muzzle, which is partially devoid of hair or covered by very short hair. There is a small dark patch at the base of each long hair on the pale muzzle, giving a spotted appearance. Shoulder epaulettes are absent in both sexes. The ears have a patch of white fur at their base.

      The skull is massive with moderate zygomatic arches. In lateral profile, the rostrum is deep, slightly rounded, and greatly elevated above the dental line. Sexual dimorphism in this feature is pronounced, with males having a much deeper rostrum than females. The sagittal crest is moderately to well developed, while the lambdoid crest is well developed. There are 10 or 11 palatal ridges present; the first five are thick, while the rest are thinner and somewhat irregular. The dental formula is 2121/2132 = 28. The first lower premolar is minute (Rosevear 1965).

      Key identification features: The combination of large size (FA > 110 mm) and shape of muzzle clearly distinguishes Hypsignathus monstrosus from all other African bats.

      Echolocation call: This bat does not echolocate.

      Distribution, habitat and roosting: Hypsignathus monstrosus is a common rainforest inhabitant of Central and West Africa, but is marginal to southern Africa. So far, it has only been recorded from the southwestern DRC and northern Angola. However, it may be more widely distributed in the far northern parts of Angola and southwestern DRC than shown in the map. The type locality is not known for certain, but may be in Gabon (Happold 2013g).

      The southern African population of this species is poorly represented in museums, with only eight records examined for this book.

      Nothing is known about its roosting habits in southern Africa, but in West Africa it roosts singly or in small groups in trees (Rosevear 1965). It is associated with closed forest and riverine habitats, but may venture into orchards to feed on fruiting trees that are situated close to forest.

      Extralimital: Hypsignathus monstrosus is widespread in tropical African forests in Kenya, Uganda, southern Sudan, DRC, Congo, Central African Republic, Gabon, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone (Bergmans 1989).

External and cranial measurements (mm) and mass (g) for Hypsignathus monstrosus, males and females presented separately
	Mean	Min	Max	SD	N		Mean	Min	Max	SD	N
Males	Females
Mass 1	393.0	374.0	412.0	-	2	Mass 1	232.0	208.0	256.0	-	3
FA 1	131.0	128.0	134.0	-	2	FA 1	114.0	108.5	118.5	-	3
Total 2	-	220	275	-	-	Total 2	-	195	220	-	-
Tail 2	0	-	-	-	-	Tail 2	0	-	-	-	-
Tibia 1	-	54	60	-	-	Tibia 2	-	52	55	-	-
Ear	-	-	-	-	-	Ear	-	-	-	-	-
CI 3	59.1	57.3	60.8	-	2	CI 3	68.7	-	-	-	1

      ¹ Wolton et al. (1982) based on specimens from Liberia ² Rosevear (1965) ³ Specimens measured by the authors; males were juveniles, while female was adult