1 Senckenbergiana biologica 73 (1-2) 1-24 Frankfurt am Main, 15.4.1994 A revision of the Rhinopomatidae DOBSON 1872, with the description of a new subspecies (Mammalia: Chiroptera) Victor Van Cakenberghe & Frits De Vree With 15 figures, 4 maps, and 12 tables Abstract The bat family Rhinopomatidae DOBSON 1872 only contains a single genus: Rhinopoma GEOF- FROY 1813, which can be subdivided into four species: R. microphyllum (BRÜNNICH 1782), R. hard- wickei GRAY 1831, R. muscatellum THOMAS 1903 and R. macinnesi HAYMAN 1937. This conclusion is based on a biometrical study of 15 skull and 14 external measurements on approximately 1150 specimens. In addition six morphological characters were evaluated. In R. microphyllum four subspecies are retained, whereas only two subspecies are recognized in R. muscatellum and none for R. macinnesi. In addition to the three already known subspecies of R. hardwickei, a new one from the Sunda archipelago is described. Introduction The family Rhinopomatidae as described by DOBSON in 1872, includes one genus, Rhinopoma GEOFFROY 1813 and a very limited number of species, most of which only occur in the deserts and semi-deserts of northern Africa and Asia. The representatives of this family possess a small noseleaf, but they can most easily be recognized by their long, slender tail, which is almost entirely free from the uropatagium (Fig. 2). The vernacular name rat- or mouse- tailed bats is derived from this character. The systematics of these bats has previously been discussed by KOCK (1969), DEBLASE et al. (1973), SCHLITTER & DEBLASE(1974) and HILL (1977). However, only the lat- ter author dealt with the entire family. All these studies primarily deal with morphological characters, whereas measurements are presented for informational purposes only. The present study also examines the morphological characters, but more emphasis will be given to the bio- metrical results. Almost all authors recognize two clearly separable species, occurring throughout almost the entire distribu- tion area of the family: a large Rhinopoma microphyllum, described by BRÜNNICH in 1782 and a somewhat smaller Rhinopuma hardwickei, described by GRAY in 1831. Addi- tionally, almost all recent authors recognize a third, smaller species described by THOMAS in 1903: Rhinopoma muscatellum. This species is restricted to the area around the Persian Gulf and the oceanic coastal area of the Arabian peninsula. However, some authors (a.o. LARGEN et al. 1974, DEMETER & TOPAL 1982) do not rule out the possibility that this species might occur in Ethiopia. KOCK (1969) claims that these Ethiopian specimens represent a separate subspecies of Rhinopoma hardwickei, which should have a wider distribution in northeastern Africa: R. h. macinnesi HAYMAN 1937. __________________ Authors' addresses: Dr. Victor Van Cakenberghe & Dr. Frits De Vree, Department Biology, University of Antwerp (UIA), Uuiversiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp (Wilrijk), Belgium.