A new bat from German East Africa

VOL. _XVIII, PP.

227-228 DECEMBER

9, 1905

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

A NEW BAT FROM GERMAN EAST AFRICA.

BY GERRIT

S.

MILLER,

^JR.

'

Bypermission^ofthe Secretary^oftheSmithsonianInstitution.

Two

bats ofthe

genus Lavia

^collected

by ^Dr. W. L. Abbott

at

Taveta, German East

_Africa, in 1889,

prove

^{to differ too}

considerably from

the

West African Lavia

_frons to

be regarded

as

the same

_species.

They may ^{be known}

^as:

Lavia

rex _sp. nov.

1892.

Megaderma

frons True, Proc. TJ. S. Nat.Mus._,

XV,

p. 469, October 26, 1892 (part).

Type fromTaveta,

(*ewm

EastAfrica. No.

fW>

^{UnitedStatesNational}

Museum,

cTadult(in alcohol). 1889. Dr.

W.

L. Abbott.

Characters. Likethe

West

AfricanLaviafrons (Geoffrey) but consider ablylarger(forearm 60 instead of 56,mandible17.8instead of_15.2),

and

withdisproportionately heavier^teeth.

Color. (Skin of topotype, No.18,992,not sexed)^:

Fur

_everywheredrab- gray(thatof belly a^littledarkerthanthat of back) tippedwithochraceous- buff.

On

middle of back

and

neck

and

onposterior half of belly the ochraceous-buffis so inconspicuous that ^it scarcely modifies the ground color,but

on

face,sides of neck,^entirechest

and

_throat,

and

_alongborder of interfemoral

membrane

^itstronglypredominates. Atshoulder thewood-

brown

fadestobuffy white,forming an inconspicuouslightshoulder_spot.

The

type does notappear ^{to differ} appreciably in ^color from the dry specimen,though^ithasbeensubject^tothe action of alcoholfor

more

than fifteen years.

Ears, membranes,^etc. Probably^notdifferentfromthose of Lavia_frons.

Dr. F.

W.

True has _already notedthe peculiarbroadened,^serratedform

45 PROC.BIOL. Soc. WASH.,Vol..XVIII,^1905. (227)

228

Miller

A

Neiv

Bat from German

East Africa.

of thesecondary^{lobe of}the tragusⁱⁿthetype specimen^as

compared

^with that figured

by Dobson and

represented

by

^aSierra

Leone

_specimeninthe UnitedStatesNational

Museum.

Inthe skinfrom Tavetathislobehasa formintermediatebetweenthe others

and

_{closelyresembling}that ofLavia fronsas figured

by

Geoffrey.

The

variationisprobablyindividual.

Skull

and

Teeth. As

compared

^{withthose ofan adult male Lavia}frons fromSierra

Leone

_{(No. 38,196,} United StatesNational

Museum)

^theskull

and

teethofLaviarexare readily distinguishable

by

^theiruniformlygreater size

and

massiveness. Inactualform of eitherskullor teeth there are

no

striking differences

between

the

two

_species; but the _larger animal has the auditalbullse relatively larger

and

the interpterygoid space narrower, while the_teeth,particularlytheupper^canines

and

_uppermolars, arevery considerably increased^insize.

Measurements.

Type: Head and

_{body, 70 (60);* tibia,} 34 _{(29); foot,} 16 _(15); forearm 60 (56);

thumb

¹⁴ (11); second_finger, 62 (55); third finger, 110 _(105); fourth _finger, 78 _(72); fifth finger, 83 (75); ear from meatus, ^43.6 (40); ear from crown,³⁹(33); widthof_ear,28 ₍₂₆₎; tragus, 29(25); noseleaf,22_{(22); greatest} width of noseleaf (flattened), 16 _(16).

Skull: Greatest length, (23);basal length, (18);basilarlength, (16);

median

_{palatallength,}6.6 _(4.8); greatest palatal width including molars, 9.2 (8.2)^; distancebetween_tipsofuppercanines, ^5.4 (4); mandible, ^17.8

(15.2); maxillarytoothrow,^9.2(8.2); mandibular_toothrow,11 _(9).

*Measurements ⁱⁿ parentheses are those of

an

adult male Lavia_frons fromSierra

Leone

_(No.

Mrll

^{UnitedStatesNational}

Museum).