Abstract

Pipistrelloid bats are among the most poorly known bats in Africa, a status no doubt exacerbated by their small size, drab brown fur and general similarity in external morphology. The systematic relationships of these bats have been a matter of debate for decades, and despite some recent molecular studies, much confusion remains. Adding to the confusion has been the recent discovery of numerous new species. Using two mitochondrial genes, we present a phylogeny for this group that supports the existence of three main clades in Africa: Pipistrellus, Neoromicia and the recently described Parahypsugo. However, the basal branches of the tree are poorly supported. Using an integrative taxonomic approach, we describe a new species of Pipistrellus sp. nov. from West Africa, which has been cited as Pipistrellus cf. grandidieri in the literature. We demonstrate that it is not closely related to Pipistrellus grandidieri from East Africa, but instead is sister to Pipistrellus hesperidus. Furthermore, the species Pi. grandidieri appears to be embedded in the newly described genus Parahypsugo, and is therefore better placed in that genus than in Pipistrellus. This has important taxonomic implications, because a new subgenus (Afropipistrellus) described for Pi. grandidieri predates Parahypsugo and should therefore be used for the entire “Parahypsugo” clade. The Upper Guinea rainforest zone, and particularly the upland areas in the south-eastern Guinea—northern Liberia border region may represent a global hotspot for pipistrelloid bats and should receive increased conservation focus as a result.

中文翻译：

---

非洲琵鹭属的系统发育，并描述了一个来自西非的新种（哺乳动物：Chiroptera）

摘要

拟皮蝙蝠是非洲最鲜为人知的蝙蝠之一，其身材矮小，棕褐色的皮毛和外部形态上的普遍相似性无疑加剧了这一状况。这些蝙蝠的系统关系数十年来一直是争论的话题，尽管最近进行了一些分子研究，但仍然存在很多困惑。最近发现了许多新物种，这进一步增加了混乱。利用两个线粒体基因，我们为这一群体提供了系统发育史，该进化论支持非洲三个主要进化枝的存在：Pipistrellus，Neorophicia和最近描述的Parahypsugo。但是，树的基础分支支撑不佳。使用综合分类学方法，我们描述了Pipistrellus的一个新物种sp。十一月 来自西非，这已被列为伏翼比照 文学中的君主。我们证明它与东非的Pipistrellus grandidieri并没有密切的关系，而是hesperidus的Pipistrellus hesperidus的姐妹。此外，物种Pi。grandidieri似乎嵌入了新近描述的Parahypsugo属中，因此比Pipistrellus更好地位于该属中。这具有重要的分类学意义，因为为Pi描述了一个新的亚属（Afropipistrellus）。grandidieri早Parahypsugo因此应用于整个“ Parahypsugo ”进化枝。几内亚上雨林带，特别是几内亚东南部-利比里亚北部边界地区的高地地区，可能是全球单倍体蝙蝠的热点地区，因此应引起更多关注。