A new species of Lonchophylla (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) from the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil, with comments on L. bokermanni
Author
Dias, Daniela
Author
Esbérard, Carlos Eduardo L.
Author
Moratelli, Ricardo
text
Zootaxa
2013
3722
3
347
360
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3722.3.4
b0135100-e83b-444f-a51f-1232a778b3a1
1175-5326
216163
FE19D2AF-BBC7-464A-B440-E3C8B0CFC4BB
Lonchophylla peracchii
,
sp. nov.
Peracchi’s Nectar Bat
Figures 2
,
3
,
4
, and 7; tables 2, and 3
Lonchophylla bokermanni
: Taddei, Souza & Manuzzi, 1988
: Part; not
Lonchophylla bokermanni
Sazima, Vizotto and Taddei, 1978
.
Holotype
.
An adult female, DZSJRP 15162, preserved in alcohol, with skull removed and complete, including mandible (
Figures 3
a–d), collected by S. A. de Souza and J. L. Manuzzi (original field number DZUFRJ 62) on 0
9 December 1984
.
Type
locality.
Near Vila do Abraão (
ca.
23°07’ S
,
44°10’ W
),
Ilha
Grande, Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro State,
Brazil
. The
type
locality is a continental island located (
ca.
)
2 km
from the continent (Esbérard
et al.
2006; see
Figure 1
).
Paratypes
.
The
paratypes
include two adult females, DZSJRP 15159 and DZSJRP 15163 (original numbers Feema 93 and Feema 94, respectively), collected in
2 August 1980
, in the same locality of the
holotype
, by S. A. de Souza e J. L. Manuzzi. Dimensions for the
type
series are reported in table 3.
TABLE 3.
Measurements (mm) of the type series (Ilha Grande, Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) of
Lonchophylla peracchii
.
| Holotype DZSRP 15162 |
Paratype DZSJRP 15159 |
Paratype DZSJRP 15163 |
| Age/sex FA GLS |
Adult female 35.8 25.5 |
Adult female 36.0 24.5 |
Adult female 36.5 25.0 |
| CIL BAL PAL |
24.5 22.4 14.7 |
23.5 21.5 13.8 |
24.0 21.8 13.8 |
| MTL BAM BAC |
8.1 5.0 4.0 |
8.0 5.0 3.9 |
8.0 5.2 3.9 |
| POB BCB MAB |
4.8 9.1 9.3 |
4.6 9.0 9.1 |
4.7 9.3 9.4 |
| MAL MAN |
17.6 8.5 |
16.6 8.4 |
17.0 8.3 |
See text for a description of measurement methods.
Distribution.
Lonchophylla peracchii
is currently known from different habitat formations along the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro. This species occurs in islands near the continent, lowland and mountainous evergreen forests, semideciduous stational forests, and pioneer formations. Altitudinal records range from the sea level in the Costa Verde region, to
900 m
in the Serra dos Órgãos National Park.
Lonchophylla peracchii
apparently occurs in syntopy with the other nectar-feeding species
Anoura caudifer
(É. Geoffroy, 1818)
,
A. geoffroyi
Gray, 1838
, and
Glossophaga soricina
(Pallas, 1766)
. We expect the occurrence of the species in other Atlantic Forest localities in southeastern
Brazil
. One specimen recently reported from Espírito Santo (Pimenta
et al
. 2010) fits with measurements herein reported to
L. peracchii
.
Etymology.
Lonchophylla peracchii
is named after Dr. Adriano Lúcio Peracchi—who first questioned the distinct taxonomic status of the Atlantic Forest populations of
L. bokermanni
. We are pleased to dedicate this new species to him due to his outstanding contributions to the Brazilian chiropterology and acarology, and as the former supervisor of the three authors (see Peracchi 2010).
Diagnosis.
The following set of characters distinguish
L. peracchii
from all congeners: medium-sized ear with narrow tip; tragus with rounded tip (not pointed); ventral fur brownish, with slight contrast between hair bases and tips; forearm length 37.0 mm or less; mesostyles of M1 and M2 absent or poorly developed; parastyle of M1 poorly developed, and oriented labially; metastyles of M1 and M2 poorly developed; and ratio of forearm length to condylo-incisive length 1.57 or less.
Description.
Lonchophylla peracchii
is a small to medium-sized species (FA:
34.5–36.9 mm
;
Table 2
), with long and silky pelage; pale-brownish ventral pelage from neck to genital region, with slight contrast between the medium-brown bases and the pale-brown tips; ventral and dorsal pelages contrasting slightly; medium-brown wing membranes; pale-brown ears, tragus, noseleaf and uropatagium; elongated and narrow muzzle; medium-sized ears, with tragus spatulate and rounded at the tip; proximal portion of the dorsal surface of the forearm covered with fur; large and elongated noseleaf spear, with indistinct central rib extending up to the tip; horseshoe continuous with the upper lip; and short interfemoral membrane, that not reaches the ankle.
The skull and rostrum are long and narrow, with a postorbital region not inflated and without lateral projections in dorsal view; supraorbital region and nasals not inflated; posterior border of infraorbital foramen set between the posterior root of P4 and anterior root of M1 or above the anterior root of M
1 in
lateral view; mesopterygoid fossa long, opened, and U-shaped or V-shaped anteriorly; pterygoid processes narrow, divergent and not inflated; basisphenoid pits shallow, with intervening septum broad; posteromedial edge of the palate positioned posteriorly to the posterior border of the optic foramen; zygomatic arcs absent; dentary long and slender; articular process long and slender, but conspicuous; and coronoid process low, with rounded tip slightly above the line of the articular condyle.
Dental formula 2/2, 1/1, 2/3, 3/3, totaling 34 teeth, with inner upper incisors elongated, spatulated, procumbent and separated at the bases but in contact at the tips; inner and outer upper incisors not in contact; outer upper incisors small, slender and pointed, and not in contact with canines; upper canines long and distinctly grooved along the anterior surface, and not in contact with P3 (the first upper premolar); upper premolars triangular, anteroposteriorly elongated in lateral view, and narrow in occlusal view; P4 with inner lobe reduced, varying from very low to a small curve, or to a small projection, with a rudimentary cusp, with lingual root displaced posteriorly; upper molars decreasing in size from M1 to M3; mesostyle absent or reduced in both M1 and M2; parastyle of M1 poorly developed, labially oriented in occlusal view, and not projected over the labial margin of the P4; parastyle of M2 and metastyles of both M1 and M2 poorly developed; lower incisors trilobed and relatively broad; lower second premolar (p2) bladelike, with posterior cusp reduced or absent and in contact with canine.
FIGURE 7.
Lonchophylla peracchii
sp. n.
(A) from the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro, and (B)
L. bokermanni
from the Cerrado of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Comparisons.
We directly compare
L. peracchii
with
L. dekeyseri
,
L. mordax
and
L. bokermanni
due to the possible sympatry with
L. mordax
in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern
Brazil
, possible parapatry with
L. dekeyseri
along part of the east coast of
Brazil
(see Griffiths & Gardner 2008), and cryptic morphology with
L. bokermanni
.
Also, we compare
L. peracchii
with the remaining South American species—all of them either from the Amazon basin or from the northwestern South America—based on original descriptions, and subsequent reassessments (e.g., Dávalos 2004; Albuja & Gardner 2005; Woodman & Timm 2006; Woodman 2007; Dávalos & Corthals 2008; Griffiths & Gardner 2008).
L. peracchii
and
L. bokermanni
can be distinguished by external, cranial, and dental traits reported above in the distinction of samples previously assigned to
L. bokermanni
from Atlantic Forest (subsequently assigned to
L. peracchii
), and Cerrado (kept as
L. bokermanni
). Useful traits to distinguish these species are the forearm length (FA:
34.5–36.9 mm
in
peracchii
;
39.4–41.1 mm
in
bokermanni
); and the ratios of greatest skull length to forearm length (GLS/FA:
0.65–0.73 in
peracchii
,
0.62–0.64 in
bokermanni
), and condylo-incisive length to forearm length (
CIL
/FA
0.64–0.70 in
peracchii
,
0.59–0.61 in
bokermanni
).
From
L. mordax
and
L. dekeyseri
,
L. peracchii
can be distinguished by the proximal portion of the dorsal surface of the forearm covered with fur. These species overlap in the forearm length (FA:
34.5–36.9 mm
in
peracchii
,
32.5– 36.7 mm
in
mordax
,
34.7–37.7 mm
in
dekeyseri
), but in the length of skull
L. peracchii
is larger than
L. dekeyseri
and
L. mordax
, overlapping with
L. mordax
, but not with
L. dekeyseri
(GLS:
23.8–25.4 mm
in
peracchii
,
21.9–22.4 mm
in
dekeyseri
,
22.4–24.2 mm
in
mordax
). It can also be distinguished from
L. dekeyseri
by the ratio of greatest skull length to forearm length (GLS/FA:
0.65–0.73 in
peracchii
,
0.60–0.64 in
dekeyseri
), and by the longer and narrower rostrum, which is shorter and inflated in
L. dekeyseri
. From
L. mordax
,
L. peracchii
can also be distinguished by the last premolar (P4) narrower, with inner lobe varying from very low to a small curve, or to a small projection, with a rudimentary cusp (in contrast with P4 robust, with inner lobe well developed, and lingual root in the median portion of the tooth in
mordax
); basisphenoid pits shallow, with intervening septum relatively broad (basisphenoid pits deep, separated by a narrow septum in
mordax
); posteromedial edge of the palate positioned posteriorly to the posterior border of the optic foramen (posteromedial edge of the palate positioned anteriorly to the posterior border of the optic foramen in
mordax
); coronoid process low, with rounded tip slightly above the line of the articular condyle (coronoid processes high, more triangular, above the line of the articular condyle in
mordax
); upper canines distinctly grooved along the anterior surface (upper canines with convex anterior surface not grooved in
mordax
); and parastyle of M1 oriented labially, and not projected over the labial margin of the P4 (parastyle of M1 oriented forwardly, projected over the posterior labial margin of the P
4 in
mordax
).
Regarding the remaining species—all of them either from the Amazon basin or northwestern South America—
L. peracchii
can be distinguished from
L. thomasi
,
L. cadenai
Woodman & Timm, 2006
, and
L. pattoni
Woodman & Timm, 2006
by the larger external and cranial size (FA ≤
34.1 mm
, and GLS ≤
22.5 mm
in
thomasi
,
cadenai
, and
pattoni
); from
L. concava
Goldman, 1914
by the larger mandible (MAL ≤
15.5 mm
in
concava
; see Woodman & Timm [2006]); from
L. chocoana
Dávalos, 2004
, and
L. orienticollina
Dávalos & Corthals, 2008
by the smaller external size (FA ≥
40 mm
in
chocoana
and
orienticollina
); from
L. handleyi
Hill, 1980
,
L. hesperia
G. M. Allen, 1908
, and
L. orcesi
Albuja & Gardner, 2005
by the smaller skull (GLS:
26.9–29.2 mm
in
handleyi
,
26–28 mm
in
hesperia
, and>
29 mm
in
orcesi
); also it can be distinguished from
L. handleyi
, and from
L. robusta
Miller, 1912
by the smaller and narrower skull and rostrum (BAC>
6 mm
, MAB>
10 mm
, and MTL>
9 mm
in
handleyi
and
robusta
); and from
L. fornicata
Woodman, 2007
by the more anteriorly positioning of the posterior border of the anteorbital foramen, and the shallower posterior portion of the palate.
The following set of external characters is useful to field identifications of
L. peracchii
: forearm length 37.0 mm or less; tragus with rounded tip; ventral pelage slightly bicolor, with dark-brown bases and pale-brown tips, brownish in the general appearance, and contrasting slightly with the dorsal pelage (see
Figures 2
and
7
).
Remarks:
This research is the first result of a series of studies re-evaluating taxonomic limits among species of the genus
Lonchophylla
from the eastern portion of South
America
. We conclude that populations previously assigned to
L. bokermanni
from Cerrado and Atlantic Forest constitute two distinct lineages, with
L. bokermanni
restricted to Cerrado, and
L. peracchii
restricted to southeastern Atlantic Forest.
Due to the similarity in size of the specimen reported by Pimenta
et al.
(2010) from Reserva Biológica de Sooretama with
L. peracchii
, we expect the occurrence of this species in the Atlantic Forest of Espírito Santo; but based on the restricted distribution ranges and apparent endemism revealed for most congeners (see Dávalos 2004; Albuja & Gardner 2005, Woodman 2007; Dávalos & Corthals 2008), and the high bat sampling effort in southeastern
Brazil
(see Bergallo
et al
. 2003), we suppose
L. peracchii
is restricted to Atlantic Forest. Additionally, after the reidentification of specimens previously assigned to
L. mordax
from Rio de Janeiro (Dias
et al
. 2002; Esbérard
et al
. 2006) as
L. peracchii
, we suppose
L. mordax
does not occur in the State. We recommend the reidentification of specimens from Atlantic Forest localities assigned to
L. mordax
(see Pedro & Passos 1995; Faria
et al
. 2006). Although our morphological comparisons have revealed qualitative traits useful in the distinction between
L. mordax
and
L. dekeyseri
, we examined only two specimens of the latter. Comprehensive samples of both taxa must be examined to assess the consistency of these traits, and their application in delimiting species.
Due to the high concentration of endemic species and exceptional habitat loss, Atlantic Forest and Cerrado biomes have been considered biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities (Myers
et al
. 2000; Mittermeier
et al
. 2004; Ribeiro
et al
. 2009). With the assignment of Atlantic Forest and Cerrado populations of
Lonchophylla
to distinct and apparently endemic species—
L. peracchii
and
L. bokermanni
, respectively—efforts to increase our background on the biology and distribution of these species are required to support conservation actions. Among them, we recommend critical review of museum specimens, and additional capture efforts focused on nectar-feeding bats.
Information on natural history of
L. peracchii
is available under the name
L. bokermanni
in Taddei
et al
. (1988), Esbérard
et al
. (1997; 2006; 2010), Baptista & Mello (2001), Dias
et al
. (2002), Esbérard (2003; 2007; 2009), Brito
et al
. (2004), Moratelli & Peracchi (2007), Dias & Peracchi (2008), Dias
et al
. (2008), Lourenço
et al
. (2010), and Novaes
et al
. (2010).