This section contains species accounts for 125 species of bats known to occur in the southern African region, accompanied by identification matrices, distribution maps, spectrograms (also called sonograms), photographs of bats and their skulls, and tables of measurements.

Rather than using dichotomous keys, which can be misleading, especially when characters are missing, we provide identification matrices throughout, providing important characters for all species. Table 4 presents an identification matrix for distinguishing between the 11 families of bats found in southern Africa.

The families are arranged phylogenetically within the two orders Pteropodiformes and Vespertilioniformes. Each family account starts with a general description of the family and genera, followed by one or more identification matrices to the genera and species. Within each identification matrix, taxa are arranged according to ascending size (FA length). Species accounts are arranged alphabetically within each family. Each species account covers the following aspects.

Name: Scientific and common names are given (following Simmons 2005, except as stated), together with the author and date of description of each genus and species.

Conservation status: Global Red List categories appear after the name in each account. These are sourced from the 2017 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (www.iucnredlist.org); the original ratings were based on mutual consensus among bat biologists at the January 2004 Global Mammal Assessment meeting in London.

Description: External, cranial and dental characters are described. Where known, the dental formula of each species is presented as follows: 2132/2133 = 34, where the numbers before the slash refer to the teeth in half of the upper jaw and the ones after it to half the teeth in the lower jaw. In this example, the species has four upper incisors, two canines, six premolars and four molars in the upper jaw – a total of 34 teeth. Figure 40 illustrates the dental and osteological features referred to in this book.

Key identification features: Diagnostic species characteristics useful for identification are provided, as well as comparisons between closely related species that may be easily confused. These features are also summarised in the relevant identification matrices provided for each family and genus. In some cases, diagnostic traits are visible from the species photographs and skull photographs (dorsal, ventral and lateral views of the cranium and lateral view of the mandible).