A survey of small mammals in the Volta Region of Ghana with comments on zoogeography and conservation Author Decher, Jan Mammal Section, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn (Germany) and Department of Biology, University of Vermont. Burlington, Vermont 05405 (USA) j. decher @ leibniz-zfmk. de Author Norris, Ryan W. Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University at Lima, Lima, OH 45804 (USA) ryanwnorris @ gmail. com ryanwnorris@gmail.com Author Abedi-Lartey, Michael Golden Veroleum (Liberia) Inc., Monrovia Office: Unit 102, Wazni Building, 13 th Street and Tubman Boulevard, Sinkor, Monrovia (Liberia) Author Oppong, James Wildlife Division, Forestry Commission, P. O. Box M 239, Accra (Ghana) Author Hutterer, Rainer Mammal Section, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn (Germany) Author Weinbrenner, Martin Philosophenweg 12, 77654 Offenburg (Germany) Author Koch, Martin Department of Biogeography, University of Trier, Universitätsring 15, D- 54296 Trier (Germany) Author Podsiadlowski, Lars Mammal Section, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn (Germany) Author Kilpatrick, C. William Department of Biology, University of Vermont. Burlington, Vermont 05405 (USA) wkilpatr @ uvm. edu wkilpatr@uvm.edu text Zoosystema 2021 2021-05-20 43 14 253 281 journal article 6523 10.5252/zoosystema2021v43a14 b1eb9973-f581-4a60-9c87-68b7ae4b3591 1638-9387 4783781 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7008A933-FE5E-405E-BBAD-8C06D2A8807D Nanonycteris veldkampi (Jentink, 1888) Epomophorus veldkampii Jentink, 1888a: 51 . COMMON NAME. — Veldkamp’s Bat. MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Agumatsa Wildlife Sanctuary • 1 ♀ with 1 embryo; SMF 89665. Apesokubi • 1♀ with 1 embryo; SMF 89664 . REMARK Previous records of this species were from Odomi Jongo in the Volta Region (USNM) and from Bismarckburg, Misahohé, Aledjo, Atakpamé, Evou, Ezimé, Fazao, Odjolo, Plateau Akpossi in Togo ( De Vree et al. 1969 , 1970 ; De Vree & Van der Straeten 1971 ). This is a small fruit bat similar in appearance to Micropteropus pusillus from which it can be distinguished by its slender snout and the nine undivided and thinner palatal ridges (see drawings in Bergmans [1997] and Happold [1987] ). With just two specimens captured at the beginning of dry season in 1999, N. veldkampi was much less common than M. pusillus ( 23 specimens ; Table 2 ). The seasonal occurrence could be explained by the migratory behavior of this species, which was shown to follow the progression of the rains northward to savanna areas ( Fahr 1996 , Thomas 1983 ). Similarly, at Mount Nimba, Wolton et al. (1982) did not obtain this species at all between early July and early September, whereas it was common there at other times of the year ( Monadjem et al. 2016 ). During the African Small Mammal Project, between January and June 1968 ( Robbins 1980 ), no N. veldkampi were encountered, yet the same Project captured 20 M. pusillus in Togo and Benin . During a study on the Accra Plains between November 1991 and June 1992 no N. veldkampi were encountered, but 45 M. pusillus were captured ( Decher 1997a ). CONSERVATION STATUS. — Nanonyteris veldkampi is classified as “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List. Its migratory behavior and dependence on forest remnants still need to be investigated in more detail in the Ghana-Togo Highlands.