Abstract:
Rhinonycteridae (trident bats) are a small Palaeotropical family of insectivorous bats allied to Hipposideridae.
Their taxonomy has been in a state of flux. Here, we use mitochondrial and nuclear sequences to evaluate species
relationships, confirming the monophyly of both Triaenops and Paratriaenops. Although most Triaenops afer
specimens are recovered as a group, mitochondrial analyses strongly support some Kenyan individuals as members
of Triaenops persicus. Analyses of four nuclear introns (ACOX2, COPS7A, RODGI and STAT5A) strongly support the
mitochondrial topology. Morphometric analysis of the skull, external morphology and echolocation calls confirm that
the Triaenops from the Rift Valley in Kenya (Nakuru, Baringo and Pokot counties) are distinct from typical T. afer in
coastal (Kilifi and Kwale counties) or interior (Laikipia and Makueni counties) colonies. We interpret these analyses
to indicate that two species of Triaenops occur in East Africa: T. afer in coastal regions along the Indian Ocean and
in the highlands of central Kenya and Ethiopia, and T. persicus in the Rift Valley of Kenya. Although they appear
widely disjunct from Middle Eastern populations, Kenyan T. persicus might be more widely distributed in the Rift
Valley; they are somewhat differentiated from Middle Eastern populations in terms of both cranial morphology and
vocalizations.
