An African bat hotspot: the exceptional importance of Mount Nimba for bat diversity Author Monadjem, Ara All Out Africa Research Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Swaziland, Private Bag 4, Kwaluseni, Swaziland & Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology & Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag 20, Pretoria, South Africa & Hipposideros lamottei & Corresponding author: E-mail: ara @ uniswa. sz ara@uniswa.sz Author Richards, Leigh Durban Natural Science Museum, P. O. Box 4085, Durban, South Africa Author Denys, Christiane UMR 7205, CNRS, MNHN, EPHE, Sorbonne Université, Paris VI, Institut de Systématique et Evolution de la Biodiversité, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 55 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France text Acta Chiropterologica 2016 2016-12-01 18 2 359 375 journal article 21454 10.3161/15081109ACC2016.18.2.005 14ec50b9-9afa-4b91-94c8-c08bb0dfc7d5 1733-5329 3942481 Hypsugo crassulus bellieri (De Vree, 1972) During this survey, just three specimens of this species were collected in forested habitats on the Liberian side, from 400 m to 1,200 m a.s.l. This species had not been previously recorded from Mt Nimba. The taxon bellieri is restricted to the Upper Guinea forest zone and is separated by over 2,000 km from the nearest populations of the taxon crassulus from southern Cameroon ; the two taxa also differ in morphology suggesting that they are specifically distinct ( Fahr, 2013 f ). The conservation status of the taxon bellieri has not been assessed, but due to continued habitat fragmentation and destruction it may be threatened ( Fahr, 2013 c ). The results of this study support this, as this species was only recorded in old growth forest. In a recent molecular study, Decher et al . (2015) showed that this species groups with other members of the genus Hypsugo , corroborating the results of a karyological study (Volleth et al ., 2001). We have therefore assigned this species to Hypsugo .