Mammalian Diversity And Matses Ethnomammalogy In Amazonian Peru Part 4: Bats
Author
Velazco, Paúl M.
Author
Voss, Robert S.
Author
Fleck, David W.
Author
Simmons, Nancy B.
text
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
2021
2021-08-27
2021
451
1
201
https://bioone.org/journals/bulletin-of-the-american-museum-of-natural-history/volume-451/issue-1/0003-0090.451.1.1/Mammalian-Diversity-and-Matses-Ethnomammalogy-in-Amazonian-Peru-Part-4/10.1206/0003-0090.451.1.1.full
journal article
10.1206/0003-0090.451.1.1
0003-0090
5415316
Eptesicus brasiliensis
(Desmarest, 1819)
VOUCHER MATERIAL (TOTAL = 4): Jenaro
Herrera
(MUSM 5596, 5597), Nuevo
San Juan
(MUSM 13201), Quebrada Sábalo (MUSA 15237); see table 59 for measurements.
UNVOUCHERED OBSERVATIONS: None.
IDENTIFICATION:
Eptesicus brasiliensis
is distinguished from other Neotropical congeners by its medium size (forearm
40–47 mm
, greatest length of skull
16–18 mm
), relatively short (<
7 mm
) dorsal fur, brownish ventral fur, U-shaped nasal opening, and inflated rostrum (Davis, 1966;
Miranda
et al., 2006; Davis and Gardner, 2008; López-Baucells et al., 2018). Descriptions and measurements of
E. brasiliensis
were provided by Davis (1965, 1966), Barquez et al. (1999), Lim et al. (2005),
Miranda
et al. (2006),
TABLE 59
External and Craniodental Measurements (mm) and Weights (g) of
Eptesicus
brasiliensis
and
E. furinalis
from the Yavarí-Ucayali Interfluve
|
E. brasiliensis
|
E. furinalis
|
| MUSM 13201 ♂ |
Femalesa |
ROM 122089 ♂ |
ROM 122178 ♀ |
| W |
10 |
11, 11, 8 |
10 |
9 |
| ToL |
105 |
104, 101, 100 |
99 |
102 |
| LT |
41 |
41, 45, 41 |
44 |
48 |
| HF |
10 |
9, 8, 10.5 |
10 |
9 |
| E |
15 |
14, 14, 15 |
13 |
14 |
| F |
43.0 |
44.6, 44.4, 43.0 |
41.0 |
41.0 |
| GLS |
16.4 |
16.2, 16.0, – |
15.9 |
16.6 |
| CIL |
15.9 |
15.7, 15.8, – |
15.3 |
15.9 |
| BB |
7.5 |
7.7, 7.7, – |
7.6 |
7.4 |
| MB |
8.6 |
8.7, 9.0, – |
8.8 |
8.7 |
| ZB |
11.1 |
11.2, 11.7, – |
11.3 |
11.4 |
| MTL |
6.5 |
6.1, 6.1, – |
5.9 |
5.8 |
| BAM |
7.1 |
6.8, 7.2, – |
7.3 |
7.0 |
a
MUSM 5596, 5597; MUSA 15237.
Davis and Gardner (2008), and Sánchez et al. (2019). Four subspecies are currently recognized:
E. b. arge
(northern
Argentina
, southern
Brazil
,
Paraguay
, and
Uruguay
),
E. b.
brasiliensis
(eastern
Brazil
),
E. b. melanopterus
(lowlands of
Colombia
,
Guyana
,
Surinam
,
Venezuela
, and the Amazon basin of
Brazil
), and
E. b.
thomasi
(western Amazon basin of eastern
Ecuador
and
Peru
) (Davis and Gardner, 2008). Based on distribution, our voucher material from the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluve should correspond to
E. b.
thomasi
.
However, most of the characteristics noted by Davis (1966) as diagnostic of
E. b.
thomasi
are measurements that overlap those of other subspecies, and in our experience populations of
E. brasiliensis
are highly variable. Until comprehensive studies including larger sample sizes and genetic data became available, we recommend against formally recognizing subspecies.
Ascorra et al. (1993) and Fleck et al. (2002) correctly identified their specimens from Jenaro
Herrera
and Nuevo
San Juan
, respectively. The voucher material we examined from the Yavarí-
Ucayali
interfluve conforms to previous descriptions of
Eptesicus brasiliensis
, with measurements that fall within the range of size variation previously documented for the species.
REMARKS: The only recorded capture of
Eptesicus brasiliensis
accompanied by ecological information from our region is an adult male that we found beneath a sheet of exfoliating bark on the underside of a fallen tree about
50 cm
above the ground in a Matses swidden near Nuevo
San Juan
on
31 May 1998
. One individual of
Myotis albescens
was found roosting beneath another sheet of bark on the same fallen tree at the same time. Both bats were torpid when this roost was discovered in midafternoon.