NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Tanzanian Woolly Bat
Kerivoula africana Dobson, 1878
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Tanzanian woolly bat or Dobson's painted bata (Kerivoula africana) is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae.
It is found only in Tanzania. Locally, it is known as the "popo" or "tunge".
Wikipedia contributors, Tanzanian woolly bat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:44:38.989153+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Kerivoula africana Dobson, 1878
- Name authority
- Dobson, 1878
- Common name
- Tanzanian Woolly Bat
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Family
- Vespertilionidae
- Genus
- Kerivoula
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderChiroptera Blumenbach, 1779
- suborderYangochiroptera Koopman, 1984
- superfamilyVespertilionoidea Gray, 1821
- familyVespertilionidae Gray, 1821
- subfamilyKerivoulinae Miller, 1907
- genusKerivoula Gray, 1842
- speciesKerivoula africana Dobson, 1878
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Kerivoula. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Damara Woolly BatKerivoula argentata Tomes, 1861 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Common Woolly BatKerivoula hardwickii (Horsfield, 1824) | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lesser Woolly BatKerivoula lanosa (A. Smith, 1847) | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lenis Woolly BatKerivoula lenis Thomas, 1916 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bismarck Woolly BatKerivoula myrella Thomas, 1914 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Spurrell's Trumpet-eared BatKerivoula phalaena Thomas, 1912 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Painted Woolly BatKerivoula picta (Pallas, 1767) | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Smith's Woolly BatKerivoula smithii Thomas, 1880 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Titania's Woolly BatKerivoula titania Bates, Struebig, Hayes, Furey, Mya Mya, Thong, Tien, Son, Harrison, Francis & Csorba, 2007 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Kerivoula bicolor Thomas, 1904 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Kerivoula pusilla Thomas, 1894 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dark Woolly BatKerivoula furva Kuo, Soisook, Ho, Csorba, Wang & Rossiter, 2017 | VespertilionidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Dobson, & George Edward. (1878). Chiroptera in the Collection of the British Museum. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3R5ZD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.