Lophostoma occidentale (W.B. Davis & D. C. Carter, 1978)

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Phyllostomidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 444-583 : 504

33.

Western Round-eared Bat

Lophostoma occidentale

French: Lophostome occidental / German: Westliche Rundohrblattnase / Spanish: Lofostoma occidental

Taxonomy. Tonatia silvicola occidentalis W.B. Davis & D.. C. Carter, 1978 ,

“ 4 mi. [= 6- 4 km] W Suyo, 1000 ft. [= 305 m], department of Piura, Peru.”

Genus Lophostoma is neuter so widely used name occidentalis has been changed for gender agreement. P. M. Velazco and R. Cadenillas in 2011 recognized occidentale as a valid species after the restriction of silvicola to the genus Lophostoma . These authors also considered the Ecuadorian endemic L. aequatorialis as ajunior synonym of L. occidentale. Monotypic.

Distribution. W Colombia (Choco, Valle del Cauca, and Cauca departments), W lowlands and foothills of Ecuador, and lowlands of Tumbes and Piura regions in NW Peru.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 70-77 mm, tail 16-22 mm, ear 31-35 mm, hindfoot 16-18 mm, forearm 51-2-56-8 mm; weight 21-1-30 g. Greater lengths of skulls are 25-5-28-7 mm. There is sexual dimorphism, with males being larger than females in several measurements. The Western Round-eared Bat is medium-sized, with long ears, short wide wings, and short tail completely included in uropatagium. It is similar in size and color to the White-throated Round-eared Bat ( L. silvicola ), butit has frosted grayish brown on back and is paler; hairs are tricolored, with short white bases. Unlike Kalko’s Round-eared Bat ( L. kalkoae ), distinctive white to pale post-auricular patches of the Western Round-eared Bat are not connected by thin line of pale hairs to pale fur on chest. Dorsal hair is long (c. 8 mm) and dense. Throat and chest fur are pale white, but stomach and abdomen are pale brown, with olive or light brownish fur on sides of body. Most of dorsal surface of forearm is naked, but proximal one-third is ventrally covered with long pale brown hair. Dorsal surfaces of feet are naked, with calcar longer than foot. Ears are long and naked, with well-marked folds and internal bases connected by band ofskin that meets in middle of forehead. Tragus is indented, with three teeth-like projections near base of outer border of pinna. Uropatagium is sparsely haired on anterior proximal one-third and mostly naked posteriorly. Skull and dentition are similar to the White-throated Round-eared Bat, but P, of Western Roundeared Bat is about one-half as large, and I, is smaller. Skull is robust and elongated, with well-developed sagittal (especially in males) and lambdoidal crests. Conspicuous postorbital constriction also distinguishes Lophostoma from Tonatia .

Habitat. Varied habitats from evergreen lowland forests to lowland deciduous and dry forests. The Western Round-eared Bat is not sympatric with any other species of Lophostoma .

Food and Feeding. The Western Round-eared Batis a gleaning insectivore. It might prefer large beetles,crickets, cicadas, katydids, and other arthropods and occasionally eatfruit.

Breeding. A lactating Western Round-eared Bat was collected in January, representing the only available record of a reproductively active individual.

Activity patterns. The Western Round-eared Bat is nocturnal. Because it wasfirst considered a subspecies of the White-throated Round-eared Bat, some behavior is expected to be similar. The Western Round-eared Bat roosts exclusively in large active arboreal hymenopteran (termite and ant) nests that they excavate and maintain. Observations from the White-throated Round-eared Bat suggests that individuals prefer nests that are larger than 30 x 30 cm, well shaded and hidden by vegetation from above but have no branches growing through them, and are freely accessible from below.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. From observations in congeners, social system of the Western Round-eared Bat might be of single male-multifemale associations, suggesting a harem structure. The Western Round-eared Bat is a perchhunter with small home ranges and short commuting distances.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCNRed List, as important parts ofits geographic range have been subjectto severe transformation in recent decades.

Bibliography. Baker et al. (2004), Davis & Carter (1978), Dechmann, Kalko et al. (2005), Dechmann, Santana & Dumont (2009), Kalko, Friemelet al. (1999), Kalko, Ueberschaer & Dechmann (2006), Lee et al. (2002), Marin-Vasquez et al. (2015), Medellin & Arita (1989), Tirira (2017), Velazco & Cadenillas (2011).

Figures

24. Long-legged Bat (Macrophyllum macrophyllum), 25. Fringe-lipped Bat (Trachops cirrhosus), 26. Striped Hairy-nosed Bat (Gardnerycteris crenulatum), 27. Keenan's Hairy-nosed Bat (Gardnerycteris keenani), 28. Koepcke’s Hairy-nosed Bat (Gardnerycteris koepckeae), 29. Kalko’s Round-eared Bat (Lophostoma kalkoae), 30. Pygmy Round-eared Bat (Lophostoma brasiliense), 31. Carriker’s Round-eared Bat (Lophostoma carrikeri), 32. Schulz’s Round-eared Bat (Lophostoma schulzi), 33. Western Round-eared Bat (Lophostoma occidentale), 34. Davis's Round-eared Bat (Lophostoma evotis), 35. White-throated Round-eared Bat (Lophostoma silvicola), 36. Greater Round-eared Bat (Tonatia bidens), 37. Stripe-headed Round-eared Bat (Tonatia saurophila), 38. Pale-faced Bat (Phylloderma stenops), 39. Pale Spear-nosed Bat (Phyllostomus discolor), 40. Lesser Spear-nosed Bat (Phyllostomus elongatus), 41. Greater Spear-nosed Bat (Phyllostomus hastatus), 42. Guianan Spear-nosed Bat (Phyllostomus latifolius), 43. Woolly False Vampire Bat (Chrotopterus auritus), 44. Southern Golden Bat (Mimon bennettii), 45. Cozumelan Golden Bat (Mimon cozumelae), 46. Spectral Bat (Vampyrum spectrum)

Distribution. W Colombia (Choco, Valle del Cauca, and Cauca departments), W lowlands and foothills of Ecuador , and lowlands of Tumbes and Piura regions in NW Peru .