Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
Epomops buettikoferi
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
Buettikofer's epauletted fruit bat (Epomops buettikoferi) is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and savanna.
It was described as a new species in 1899 by German zoologist Paul Matschie. Matschie placed it in the genus Epomophorus, naming it Epomophorus büttikoferi. The holotype was found in Schlieffelinsville, Liberia, along the Junk River. Matschie named the new species after Dr. Johann Büttikofer, who had conducted several scientific expeditions to Liberia.
In 1965, Kuhn published that it was a subspecies of the Franquet's epauletted fruit bat (Epomops franqueti). This was refuted in 1975 by Bergmans, who reported that the Buettikofer's epauletted fruit bat differs significantly from Franquet's epauletted fruit bat in its morphology, warranting that they remain separate species.
This conclusion may be challenged again, however, as a 2016 study found that Franquet's epauletted fruit bat and Buettikofer's epauletted fruit bat were indistinguishable on the basis of mitochondrial... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taï National Park | 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Büttikofer's Epauletted Bat sighting in Taï National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 8th most-seen of the 14 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and April
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Büttikofer's Epauletted Bat in Taï National Park on a given day, against about 10% in June to September, the lowest months. October to February have too few records to rate.
Between 6 and 9 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Büttikofer's Epauletted Bat sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Only Taï National Park, in our data
Taï National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Büttikofer's Epauletted Bat sightings: about 40% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Büttikofer's Epauletted Bat is recorded against all the mammals logged in Taï National Park (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
