Female reproduction and the female reproductive cycle of Hipposideros caffer caffer (Sundevall, 1846) in Natal, South Africa

Female reproduction and the female reproductive cycle of Hipposideros caffer from three disused mines in Natal (c. 29°S) are described.The uterus of H. caffer was bicornuate with sinistral structural and functional asymmetry. The corpus uteri and caudal ends of the uterine horns differed from the general mammalian pattern, being lined by stratified epithelium. Growth, development and atresia of ovarian follicles were typically mammalian. The corpus luteum of H. caffer, which was extruded from the ovary, disappeared within one month of ovulation.H. caffer was monoestrous and monotocous. Follicular development began in February, with copulation and ovulation occurring in late April (early winter). The gestation period was estimated to have been approximately 220 days of which the period of the zygote accounted for 21 days or 9.5 per cent, the period of the embryo 123 days or 55.9 per cent and the period of the foetus 76 days or 34,5 per cent. Development from fertilization to implantation was normal but embryonic development was retarded during winter. Parturition occurred in early December and was followed by a period of lactation/anoestrus during December and January.The oestrous cycle, including pregnancy, was characterised by a relatively long pregnancy stage and the absence of a separate period of anoestrus. H. caffer did not hibernate throughout the winter period but entered short periods of torpor during particularly cold spells. Results from the present study support the trend seen in the genus Hipposideros and other microchiropteran genera of increasing gestation length with increasing latitude.