Natalus Gray, 1838

Tejedor, Adrian, 2011, Systematics Of Funnel-Eared Bats (Chiroptera: Natalidae), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2011 (353), pp. 1-140 : 39

Genus Natalus Gray, 1838

Natalus Gray, 1838: 496 . Type species Natalus stramineus Gray, 1838 , by monotypy.

Phodotes Miller, 1906: 85 . Type species Natalus tuminidirostris Miller, 1900 , by original designation.

DIAGNOSIS: Natalid organ wedge shaped and extending onto crown; plagiopatagium attaching above ankle, calcar extending throughout most of free edge of uropatagium; well-developed fringe of hairs along free edge of uropatagium; sagittal crest moderately high and most pronounced in its anterior half; angular process curved anterodorsally; apophysis of angular process rounded or quadrate; ventral margin of dentary curved ventral to molars; labial cingular cusp of p4 well developed but short; lesser trochanter in proximal view (aligning greater trochanter with shaft of femur) projects beyond head of femur away from axis of greater trochanter; larger axis of head of humerus oriented posteroventrally; lesser tuberosity almost as high as greater tuberosity and higher than head of humerus; head of humerus much larger than greater tuberosity; spinous process of humerus smaller than one half the radius of capitulum; capitulum swollen and wide at its midpoint;. A comparison of diagnostic characters between Natalus , and other natalid genera is summarized in table 3.

ETYMOLOGY: Gray (1838) did not give reasons for choosing the name Natalus (derived from Latin natalis, ‘‘of or relating to birth’’), but Goodwin (1959) speculated that it was related to the unknown origin or ‘‘birthplace’’ of the taxon. Other authors have suggested that it derives from the neotenic aspect of the bat, as in the newborn (e.g., Gómez-Laverde, 1986).

CONTENTS: Natalus espiritosantensis (Ruschi), 1951 ; N. jamaicensis (Goodwin), 1959 ; N. major Miller, 1902 ; N. mexicanus Miller, 1902 ; N. lanatus Tejedor, 2005 ; N. primus Anthony, 1919 ; N. stramineus Gray, 1838 ; N. tumidirostris Miller, 1900 .