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Read Ebook: Noteworthy Records of Bats From Nicaragua with a Checklist of the Chiropteran Fauna of the Country by Jones J Knox Smith James Dale Turner Ronald W
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Ebook has 185 lines and 17995 words, and 4 pages
OCCASIONAL PAPERS
of the MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY --The University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas
NUMBER 2 APRIL 29, 1971
NOTEWORTHY RECORDS OF BATS FROM NICARAGUA, WITH A CHECKLIST OF THE CHIROPTERAN FAUNA OF THE COUNTRY
J. KNOX JONES, JR., JAMES DALE SMITH, RONALD W. TURNER
Nicaragua occupies a strategic position in Central America with respect to mammalian distributional patterns, but relatively little has been published concerning the fauna of the country and its zoogeographic relationships. The present paper records information on distribution, variation, and natural history of 40 species of bats from Nicaragua, 14 of which are here recorded for the first time from the country. Appended is a checklist of the chiropteran fauna of Nicaragua in which only primary literature with actual reference to specimens from the republic is cited.
The specimens upon which this report is based are, with few exceptions, in the collections of the Museum of Natural History of The University of Kansas. Some of our material was obtained in 1956 by J. R. and A. A. Alcorn, field representatives of the Museum and sponsored by the Kansas University Endowment Association; most of the specimens, however, were obtained by field parties of which we were members that worked in Nicaragua in 1964, 1966, 1967, and 1968 under the aegis of a contract between the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command and The University of Kansas. Place-names associated with localities mentioned in the text from which specimens at Kansas were collected are plotted on Fig. 1.
Curator, Division of Mammals, Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas.
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, California State College, Fullerton, California.
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, St. Benedicts College, Atchison, Kansas.
In the accounts that follow, departments in Nicaragua are listed alphabetically, but localities within each department are arranged from north to south; elevations are given in meters or feet, depending on which was used on specimen labels. All specimens are in the Museum of Natural History of The University of Kansas unless noted otherwise. We are indebted to Drs. Charles O. Handley, Jr., and Ronald Pine of the U.S. National Museum for lending us certain critical specimens.
ACCOUNTS OF SPECIES
Saccopteryx leptura
Our two bats, both females, were shot on the evening of 1 March 1968 as they foraged around a yard light. One carried an embryo that measured 8 mm , whereas the other was reproductively inactive.
Peropteryx macrotis macrotis
Noctilio labialis labialis
This species has been reported previously from Nicaragua by several authors. All our specimens were netted over small streams or shot as they foraged; parts of scarabids and lepidopterans were found in the mouths of several individuals shot at Finca Amayo. Twenty-six of 31 autopsied females taken in April were pregnant, each containing a single embryo--average crown-rump length 16.7 mm. Testes of 15 males collected in April had an average length of 4.6 mm, those of four taken in June, 5.2 mm.
Noctilio leporinus mexicanus Goldman, 1915
The two individuals from Potos? were caught on 6 March in a mist net set over a large pool in a shallow estuarine stream; the mouth of the stream opened into the Gulf of Fonseca approximately 200 yards below our netting site. Other individuals of this species were observed as they foraged over large pools formed at high tide near the mouth of the stream. Our other specimens were caught in mist nets set over fresh water streams near Lake Nicaragua or along the shores of the lake. A female from near Alta Gracia, caught on 27 March, carried a single embryo that measured 41 mm, whereas one from Finca Amayo was lactating on 25 June. Four males taken on Isla de Ometepe in late March and early April had a mean testicular length of 9.5 mm.
Pteronotus davyi fulvus
This small naked-backed bat has not been reported previously from Nicaragua. Autopsy of seven females collected on 9 May near San Ram?n revealed that four were pregnant, each with a single embryo--average crown-rump length 25.0 mm.
Pteronotus parnellii fuscus
Although this species is widespread in Middle America, it has been known previously from Nicaragua only by a specimen from "Chontales" . All of our specimens were captured in mist nets. Two adult females each carried a single embryo ; a female taken in April was lactating and had a flaccid uterus suggesting relatively recent parturition. Adult females captured in the months of June, July, and August evidenced no sign of reproductive activity. Two of these were in dark, fresh pelage, but one captured on 24 June and another on 28 July were molting. In both individuals, active molt evidently had slowed or subsided and remnants of the old pelage were confined to a narrow strip at the lateral edges of the body.
Pteronotus suapurensis
This relatively poorly known monotypic species occurs from southern Veracruz to the Amazon Basin. It has been reported from several localities in Central America including one in Nicaragua . Three pregnant females from near San Ram?n carried embryos that had crown-rump lengths of 27, 27, and 28 mm, and two netted on 24 April at Cara de Mono each had an embryo that measured 22 mm. All of our specimens are in bright pelage that is fulvous red in color.
Micronycteris megalotis mexicana Miller, 1898
The individuals from Isla de Ma?z Grande were shot on 30 June as they flew from small caves and crevices in rocky outcrops on the south end of the island. Of the three adult females obtained at that time, two were lactating; each was accompanied by a young, the forearms of which measured 19.7 and 21.3 mm . Two adult males from Isla del Ma?z Grande had testes 2 mm in length.
Table Legend:
Col. A: Number of specimens averaged or catalogue number, and sex Col. B: Length of forearm Col. C: Greatest length of skull Col. D: Zygomatic breadth Col. E: Breadth of braincase Col. F: Length of maxillary toothrow
Average 8 35.4 19.5 9.5 8.0 7.5 Minimum 33.0 18.8 9.1 7.7 7.3 Maximum 38.1 20.3 9.8 8.2 7.7
Isla del Ma?z Grande, Nicaragua
Average 6 35.6 19.4 9.2 7.8 7.4 Minimum 34.5 19.1 9.0 7.7 7.3 Maximum 37.0 19.8 9.3 7.9 7.5
USNM 16366/23364, 31.5 18.2 8.8 7.6 6.9
R?o Coco, Nicaragua
Average 6 33.6 18.9 -- 7.5 7.1 Minimum 32.7 18.8 -- 7.4 7.0 Maximum 34.2 19.0 -- 7.6 7.2
Bonanza, Nicaragua
Specimens labeled with reference to Dar?o, Diriamba, and Managua.
Four of the five specimens taken northwest of Diriamba were shot from a daytime retreat in a culvert; the fifth was caught by hand as it attempted to fly out of a hollow, fallen tree. Two adult females captured on 31 March were pregnant, each carrying a single embryo , whereas two obtained on 14 August showed no sign of reproductive activity. An adult male, also taken on 14 August, had testes 2 mm in length. Of three additional adult females, one captured on 3 June was pregnant , whereas two obtained on 14 April evinced no gross reproductive activity.
Tonatia nicaraguae Goodwin, 1942
Only four specimens of this seemingly rare species have been recorded previously from Nicaragua--one from Kanawa Creek, near Cukra, north of Bluefields, 100 ft, Zelaya , another from 12.5 mi. S and 13 mi. E Rivas, 125 ft, Rivas , and two from 6 km N Tuma, 500 m, Matagalpa . Our specimens were caught in mist nets placed over small, quiet streams that were fringed with tall, gallery forest. The surrounding areas were savanna-like with small stands of secondary forest. An adult male taken on 21 April had testes that measured 5 mm in length, whereas those of another were 3 mm.
Measurements of the two males are as follows: total length, 63, 60 mm; length of tail, 5, 6 mm; length of hind foot, 10, 9 mm; length of ear, 23, 23 mm; length of forearm, 34.5, 35.6 mm; weight, 11.4, 8.8 gms; greatest length of skull, 20.2, 20.5 mm; zygomatic breadth, 9.5, 9.5 mm; breadth of braincase, 8.5, 8.2 mm; postorbital breadth, 3.1, 2.9 mm; length of maxillary toothrow, 7.0, 7.1 mm; breadth across upper molars, 6.3, 6.5 mm. We have not compared our specimens directly with others from Middle America. On the basis of available measurements, they resemble material reported from Honduras , averaging larger than other specimens for which measurements have been published .
Phyllostomus hastatus panamensis J. A. Allen, 1904
Two females taken 5 mi S Managua on 13 March each carried a single embryo . Lactating females were captured in June, July, and August.
Trachops cirrhosus coffini Goldman, 1925
Chrotopterus auritus auritus
Anoura geoffroyi lasiopyga
Four specimens of this species, netted on 24 and 25 July 1967 in a banana grove 1.5 km N and 1 km E Jalapa, 660 m, Nueva Segovia, provide the first record of this glossophagine from Nicaragua. Two males each had testes 6 mm in length; one female evidenced no reproduction activity, whereas another carried an embryo 4 mm in crown-rump length. In addition to our material, there is a specimen in the British Museum from Cafetal "Concordia," 4000 ft, Jinotega.
It may be noteworthy that the two localities at which this bat is known both are in the highlands of the northern part of Nicaragua, and that we failed to take additional specimens in many hundreds of hours of netting in other places in the country.
Choeroniscus godmani
Godman's bat was reported from Nicaragua by Handley , who used the locality designation "El Realejo" for the three specimens available to him. Actually, the three are from the nearby Hda. San Isidro, 10 km S Chinandega. We have taken three additional specimens as follows: Santa Rosa, 17 km N and 15 km E Boaco, 300 m, Boaco ; 2 km E Yal?, 900 m, Jinotega ; and Santa Mar?a de Ostuma, 1250 m, Matagalpa . Bats of this species have been taken as far north as the western Mexican state of Sinaloa .
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