Bats of the Gulf of Guinea islands: faunal composition and origins
The present study compares the bat faunas of the islands of the Gulf of Guinea. Species composi tion, endemism and hypothetical origins are discussed. All families present in the mainland region are found in Bioko, a typical landbridge island. Foliage gleaning guild species (Nycteridae) show limite...
| Autores: | , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 1994 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/48792 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/48792 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Bats Gulf of Guinea Biogeography |
| Sumario: | The present study compares the bat faunas of the islands of the Gulf of Guinea. Species composi tion, endemism and hypothetical origins are discussed. All families present in the mainland region are found in Bioko, a typical landbridge island. Foliage gleaning guild species (Nycteridae) show limited colonization abilities. This is also true of the family Rhinolophidae, but not for the closely related family Hipposideridae. The majority of the oceanic island species are African bats which show a widespread distribution and, therefore, have a high ecological plasticity. The continental relatives of the two endemic species Myonycteris brachycephala and Chaerephon tomensis are re stncted to relatively small forested areas. flioko’s bat fauna is the result of the recent isolation from a formerly land-connected community. The oceanic bat faunas originated from the estab lishment of incomers from other areas. Nevertheless, extinction appears in both vicariant and dis persal processes, as an important factor in modelling the current bat communities of the Gulf of Guinea islands |
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