Uroderma bilobatum, Peters, 1866

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Phyllostomidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 444-583 : 556-557

153.

Common Tent-making Bat

Uroderma bilobatum

French: Uroderme bilobé / German: Gemeine Zeltfledermaus / Spanish: Urodermo comun

Other common names: Peters's Tent-making Bat, White-lined Tent-making Bat

Taxonomy. Uroderma bilobatum Peters, 1866 ,

“St. Paulo in Brasilien [= Sao Paulo, Brazil] ... [and] Cayenne [ French Guiana].”

Restricted by K. Andersen in 1908 to Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil. According to G. S. T. Garbino and M. R. Nogueira in 2017, the type probably came from eastern Brazil, possibly Bahia.

Current taxonomic concept is more restricted by recognition of U. convexum and U. davisi as valid species. Subspecies differ mainly in size, and taxonomic revisions using molecular techniques might change their status. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

U.b.bilobatumPeters,1866—ColombiaandVenezuela(EofAndes),andtheGuianasStoBrazil(NMinasGeraisandMatoGrossodoSul).RecordsfromS(Parana)andSEBrazil(RiodeJaneiroandSaoPaulostates)areerroneous.

U.b.thomasiK.Andersen,1906—Ecuador,Peru,andBolivia,alongEslopeofAndes.

U. b. trinitatum W. B. Davis, 1968 — Trinidad I.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 55-71 mm (tailless), ear 12-21 mm, hindfoot 9-16 mm, forearm 39-3-44-6 mm; weight 13:7-22 g. Dorsal fur of the Common Tent-making Bat is brown. Dorsal hairs are bicolored, with buff bases and dark brown tips. White median dorsal stripe extends from nape to rump. Head is same color of dorsum, with conspicuous white supraocular and subocular stripes of entirely white hairs. Ears have yellowish bases and whitish/yellowish margins. Tragus is small, c.25% of ear length, and yellowish. Noseleafis simple, black, and whitish on edges of horseshoe. Uropatagium is relatively naked and well developed, with notch near level of knees. Calcar is smaller than foot. Proximal one-half of forearm is hairy. Tail is absent. Rostrum is relatively long, and skull is slightly concave in profile view. Postorbital processes are moderately developed. Palate is relatively broad, long, and U-shaped posteriorly. Sagittal crest is moderately developed. Mandible has moderately developed angular process. Condyle is level with tooth row. I' are bilobed and parallel to each other. There is a small gap between P* and P*. M' and M? have three well-defined cusps. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 42 and FN = 50, with five pairs of submetacentric and 15 pairs of acrocentric autosomes. X-chromosome 1s subtelocentric, and Y-chromosome is submetacentric.

Habitat. Tropical forests of Amazonia and Atlantic rainforest including semideciduous formations, savannas of Bolivia and Brazilian cerrado, Pantanal wetlands, xeric caatinga, Bolivian Chaco, and xerophytic and deciduous forests of northern Venezuela, urban areas, and human-disturbed forests from sea level to elevations of 1850 m (most common below 1000 m). High-elevations records (1350 m in Bolivia and 1850 m in Peru) of Common Tent-making Bats are exclusive to subspecies thomas.

Food and Feeding. The Common Tent-making Bat eats fruits. In Brazil, five species from three genera were reported as food items: Cecropia palmata ( Urticaceae ), Ficus maxima ( Moraceae ) and other two unidentified species of Ficus , and Solanum grandiflorum ( Solanaceae ). In French Guiana, it ate Cecropia obtusa . Stomach contents of specimens from Trinidad Island contained remains of guava ( Psidium guajava, Myrtaceae ). When foraging in the eastern Amazonia of Brazil, fruits were carried feeding roosts or consumed on the fruiting tree.

Breeding. The Common Tent-making Bat has a polygynous mating system. On Trinidad Island, pregnant females were recorded in January—August. Pregnant females were recorded in August-September in Bolivia and May,June, September, and November in Peru. One young is born per pregnancy.

Activity patterns. The Common Tent-making Bat forages for fruit in highly cluttered understories. It roosts exclusively in foliage. Day roosts include unmodified foliage and leaves modified into tents. Tents made from leaves of Coccothrinax barbadensis, Cocos nucifera, and Sabal mauritiiformis (all Arecaceae ), Cecropia peltata ( Urticaceae ), and Phenakospermum guyannense ( Strelitziaceae ) have been observed. Echolocation calls recorded in Trinidad are characterized by a short (mean 1-6 milliseconds) FM multiharmonic call, with mean high frequency of 74-7 kHz.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. One Common Tent-making Bat was captured roosting with Greater Sac-winged Bats ( Saccopteryx bilineata), Lesser Sacwinged Bats (S. leptura), Great Fruit-eating Bats ( Artibeus lituratus ), and Flat-faced Fruiteating Bats (A. planirostris ). During certain times of the year, Common Tent-making Bats form harems of one adult male and several adult females, sometimes with their young. Individuals remain together in these harems for weeks or months, and they might remain in the same tent or use different tents. It has been suggested that tents are male-defended resources. In French Guiana, a roosting group of three bats was composed of a male and a female with her young. Roosting groups observed on Trinidad Island had 1-6 individuals.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Common Tent-making Bat has a wide distribution and occurs in several protected areas.

Bibliography. Andersen (1906b, 1908c), Anderson (1997), Anderson et al. (1982), Baker & Lopez (1970a), Carvalho (1961), Charles-Dominique & Cockle (2001), Davis (1968), Fischer et al. (2015), Garbino & Nogueira (2017), Goodwin & Greenhall (1961), Handley (1976), Kalko & Handley (2001), Kunz & McCracken (1994, 1996), Mantilla-Meluk (2014), Mares et al. (1981), Nunes et al. (2017), Peters (1866), Pio et al. (2010), Reis & Guillaumet (1983), Silva et al. (2005), Solari et al. (2006).

Figures

143. Guadeloupean Big-eyed Bat (Charoderma tmprovisum), 144. Little Big-eyed Bat (Charoderma trinitatum), 145. Salvin’s Big-eyed Bat (Chiroderma salvini), 146. Hairy Big-eyed Bat (Chiroderma villosum), 147. Brazilian Big-eyed Bat (Chiroderma doriae), 148. Vizotto’s Big-eyed Bat (Chiroderma vizottoi), 149. Bidentate Yellow-eared Bat (Vampyriscus bidens), 150. Brock’s Yellow-eared Bat (Vampyriscus brocki), 151. Striped Yellow-eared Bat (Vampyriscus nymphaea), 152. Baker’s Tent-making Bat (Uroderma bakeri), 153. Common Tent-making Bat (Uroderma bilobatum), 154. Pacific Tent-making Bat (Uroderma convexum), 155. Davis’s Tent-making Bat (Uroderma dauvisi), 156. Brown Tent-making Bat (Uroderma magnirostrum), 157. Kalko’s Yellow-eared Bat (Vampyressa elisabethae), 158. Melissa’s Yellow-eared Bat (Vampyressa melissa), 159. Quechuan Yellow-eared Bat (Vampyressa sinchi), 160. Northern Little Yellow-eared Bat (Vampyressa thyone), 161. Southern Little Yellow-eared Bat (Vampyressa pusilla), 162. MacConnell’s Bat (Mesophylla macconnelli), 163. Caracciolo’s Stripe-faced Bat (Vampyrodes caraccioli), 164. Great Stripe-faced Bat (Vampyrodes major)

Subspecies and Distribution. U.b.bilobatumPeters,1866—ColombiaandVenezuela(EofAndes),andtheGuianasStoBrazil(NMinasGeraisandMatoGrossodoSul).RecordsfromS(Parana)andSEBrazil(RiodeJaneiroandSaoPaulostates)areerroneous. U.b.thomasiK.Andersen,1906—Ecuador,Peru,andBolivia,alongEslopeofAndes. U. b. trinitatum W. B. Davis, 1968 — Trinidad I.