Aim: Comprehensive, global information on species’ occurrences is an essential biodiversity variable and central to a range of applications in ecology, evolution, biogeography and conservation. Expert range maps often represent a species’ only available distributional information and play an increasing role in conservation assessments and macroecology. We provide global range maps for the native ranges of all extant mammal species harmonised to the taxonomy of the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD) mobilised from two sources, the Handbook of the Mammals of the World (HMW) and the Illustrated Checklist of the Mammals of the World (CMW). Location: Global. Taxon: All extant mammal species. Methods: Range maps were digitally interpreted, georeferenced, error-checked and subsequently taxonomically aligned between the HMW (6253 species), the CMW (6431 species) and the MDD taxonomies (6362 species). Results: Range maps can be evaluated and visualised in an online map browser at Map of Life ( mol.org ) and accessed for individual or batch download for non-commercial use. Main conclusion: Expert maps of species’ global distributions are limited in their spatial detail and temporal specificity, but form a useful basis for broad-scale characterizations and model-based integration with other data. We provide georeferenced range maps for the native ranges of all extant mammal species as shapefiles, with species-level metadata and source information packaged together in geodatabase format. Across the three taxonomic sources our maps entail, there are 1784 taxonomic name differences compared to the maps currently available on the IUCN Red List website. The expert maps provided here are harmonised to the MDD taxonomic authority and linked to a community of online tools that will enable transparent future updates and version control.

Abstract. In 1966, Robert William Hayman, Xavier Misonne and Walter Verheyen published their listing of the Congolese, Rwandan and Burundian bat specimens in the collections in the museums of Tervuren, Brussels, Geneva, London and New York. In the fifty years that have passed since, some major changes have been introduced in the taxonomy of the Chiroptera: new species have been discovered, species have been split off, species have been moved to other genera, and additional material has been collected. We re-evaluated the data presented by Hayman et al., and supplemented this with specimen records found in the literature and in online catalogs. This resulted in 136 species, represented by 20 231 specimens (compared to 113 species and 8567 specimens originally). When available, we also recorded additional information such as locality, sex and age, collector, collection date and preservation type of the voucher specimen. The distribution maps of the Congolese taxa are revised to represent the current taxonomy, and are presented in perspective against the taxon's Species Distribution Model to assess species distribution on the African continent. Additionally, an updated key to the various taxa is presented.

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Based on multi-and univariate statistical analyses on 233 Southeast Asian Nycteris specimens, two species are recognized : Nycteris javanica and Nycteris tragata. They represent the single, separate Nycteris javanica group, which is distinct from the four African species groups : the hispida, thebaica, macrons and arge groups.Resume. -Par des analyses statistiques multi-et univariees sur 233 specimens provenant du sud-est de l'Asie, deux especes de Nycteris sont reconnues : Nycteris javanica et Nycteris tragaia. Ces deux especes representent un seul groupe : le groupe Nycteris javanica, qui se distingue des quatre groupes d'especes africaines : les groupes hispida, thebaica, macrotis et arge.

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The collection of vertebrates made in Kikwit in the aftermath of the 1995 Ebola haemorrhagic fever epidemic included 538 bat specimens, representing 18 species. This collection contains large numbers of a very common species, Chaerephon pumila, but also of Chaerephon ansorgei, which was not yet reported in such large numbers. Other rather common African bat species -e.g. Pipistrellus nanus -are represented with two specimens only. Surprisingly, some rare species were found to be present in the collection : e.g. Casinycteris argynnis, Miniopterus minor, Myopterus whitleyi, especially when the limited time over which the collection is made, is considered.For each of the species, measurements are presented -either in detail or in summary -and comparisons are made with the dimensions found in the literature. The distribution of the species in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is discussed based on literature data. For most species, information on reproductive data is given.Resume. -La collection des vertebres faite ä Kikwit apres epidemic de Ebola en 1995 comptait 538 chauves-souris, representant 18 especes. Cette collection conticnt bcaucoup d'animaux d'une espece commune, Chaerephon pumila, mais aussi de Chaerephon ansorgei, qui n'a pas encore etc signalee avec un si grand nombre de specimens. D'autres especes communes africaines, par exemple Pipistrellus nanus, ne sont representees que par deux specimens. Quelques especes plus rares : Casinycteris argynnis, Miniopterus minor, Myopterus whitleyi, sont representees dans la collection, ce qui cst surprenant au vu du temps limite dans lequel la collection a ete faite.Pour chaque espece, des mensurations sont donnces -soit en detail ou en resume -et des comparisons avec les dimensions trouvees dans la littcrature. La repartition des especes dans la Republiquc dcmocratiquc du Congo est discutee sur la base des donnecs de la litterature. Pour la plupart des especes, des informations sur les donnees de la reproduction sont presentees.

Bats exhibit a variety of life‐history traits that can serve as valuable surrogate metrics of terrestrial ecosystem health. Here, we investigate how sonotype activity of hipposiderid bats covaries with habitat structure at finer spatial scales. We recorded passive echolocation calls and measured key habitat attributes in six rainforests in the Lomami and Yangambi landscapes, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Using bat passes as a measure of sonotype activity, we clustered echolocation calls based on call structure similarity to control for within‐sonotype variation in activity. Over 432 h of recording, we detected 370 passes matching a hipposiderid sonotype in three subgroups, recovering eight potential species. Open habitats negatively affected sonotype activity in the Hipposideros subgroup, which was associated with higher echolocation frequencies. Indeed, activity peaked in the early evening when mean post‐sunset temperature was above the nocturnal average and declined until early morning when mean temperatures dropped below the nightly average. All habitat variables were marginally correlated with the activity of the Doryrhina subgroup, whereas Macronycteris was more active in open habitats. Our findings indicate a probable flexibility of habitat use in lower echolocating bats and point to three possible foraging guilds that modulate hipposiderid bat responses to habitat structure.