| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 1994 |
| Authors: | C. P. Kofron, Chapman A. |
| Journal: | Afr. J. Ecol. |
| Volume: | 32 |
| Pagination: | 308-316 |
| Date Published: | 1994 |
| Keywords: | behaviour, Chiroptera, ecology, Epomops buettikoferi, habitat preferences, Liberia, Mammalia, morphology, Pteropodidae, reproduction, seasonality, sexual dimorphism, Vegetation, West Africa, zoogeography |
| Abstract: | Epomops buettikoferi is a savanna species of fruit bat that has entered the deforested zone in Liberia where it inhabits agricultural areas and secondary forest, but not rain forest. Contrary to the conclusions of Bergmans & Sowler (1992), the species is in no way vulnerable or endangered because of destruction of the Upper Guinea rain forest. Instead, as the remaining Upper Guinea rain forest is cut, it is predicted that numbers of E. buettikoferi will increase. Sexual dimorphism was observed in the pelvic girdle, which by palpation allowed reliable determination of sex (100% accurate) of individuals of any age. This was useful in the field for distinguishing immature males, which lack an obvious penis and epaulettes, from females. In central Liberia, female E. buettikoferi have a bimodal reproductive cycle, with two young borne annually about six months apart. The two births occur in February/March (end of dry/beginning of the wet season) and August/September (during heaviest rains in second half of the wet). Parturition is followed by oestrus, with immediate embryonic development and gestation spanning five to six months. Reproduction is timed so that both periods of lactation occur during the wet season. |