Miniopterus manavi

Description

Miniopterus manavi (Manavi long-fingered bat) is a bat in the genus Miniopterus that occurs in east-central Madagascar. First described in 1906, this species was later included in the mainland African M. minor. A 1995 revision united populations of small Miniopterus from Madagascar and the Comoros as M. manavi, but molecular and morphological studies in 2008 and 2009 showed that this concept of M. manavi in fact included five different species. M. manavi itself was restricted to a few locations in the eastern Central Highlands and populations in the Comoros and northern and western Madagascar were allocated to different species. Miniopterus manavi is a small, blackish or reddish-brown Miniopterus; its forearm length is 37.6 to 39.2 mm (1.48 to 1.54 in). The tragus (a projection in the outer ear) is narrow and ends in an angular tip. The uropatagium (tail membrane) is well-furred and the palate is flat.