Bats (Chiroptera) of Burkina Faso: preliminary list with fifteen first record species

Based on a fine review of bat literature in Burkina Faso, we identified the south-western and southeastern parts of the country as gap regions where a study that aims to fill gap in bat diversity estimation could be conducted. In total, 72 sampling sites distributed in 32 localities were surveyed between April 2008 and September 2009. 407 mist nets-nights of 12 and 6 m were used for a total effort of 2937.3 net-hours. 1639 specimens were capture in total distributed in 45 species, 22 genera and 9 families. 15 species including 2 frugivorous and 13 insectivorous were recorded for the first time in Burkina Faso. These new species recorded increased the bats diversity of Burkina Faso from 36 to 51. Keywords : Bats, capture, first records, species richness, Burkina Faso.