Miniopterus griveaudi

Description

Miniopterus griveaudi is a bat in the genus Miniopterus found on Grande Comore and Anjouan in the Comoros and in northern and western Madagascar. First described in 1959 from Grande Comore as a subspecies of the mainland African M. minor, it was later placed with the Malagasy M. manavi. However, morphological and molecular studies published in 2008 and 2009 indicated that M. manavi as then defined contained five distinct, unrelated species, and M. griveaudi was redefined as a species occurring on both Madagascar and the Comoros. With a forearm length of 35 to 38 mm (1.4 to 1.5 in), M. griveaudi is a small Miniopterus. It is usually dark brown, but sometimes reddish. The tragus (a projection inside the ear) is narrow and ends in a rounded tip. The uropatagium (tail membrane) appears virtually naked. In the skull, the palate is concave and the rostrum (front part) is rounded. The species occurs up to 480 m (1,570 ft) above sea level on Madagascar, often in karstic areas. In the Comoros, it reaches 890 m (2,920 ft) and roosts in lava tubes as well as shallower caves. Females collected on Grande Comore in November were pregnant, but data on reproduction is limited and suggests individual and inter-island variation.