Desmodus rotundus (E. Geoffroy)

Simmons, Nancy B. & Voss, Robert S., 1998, The mammals of Paracou, French Guiana, a Neotropical lowland rainforest fauna. Part 1, Bats, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 237, pp. 1-219 : 46-47

Desmodus rotundus (E. Geoffroy)

VOUCHER MATERIAL: 3 females (AMNH *267211, *267504; MNHN *1995.985) and 2 males (AMNH *267503, *267505); see table 11 for measurements.

IDENTIFICATION: Numerous authors have provided descriptions and measurements of Desmodus rotundus , including Husson (1962, 1978), Swanepoel and Genoways (1979), Hall (1981), Koopman (1988), and Greenhall et al. (1983). Two subspecies are recognized by some authors (e.g., Hall, 1981; Jones and Carter, 1976; Greenhall et al., 1983): D. r. rotundus Geoffroy (1810) and D. r. murinus Wagner (1840) . Whereas Cabrera (1958) and Husson (1962, 1978) referred all South American specimens to D. r. rotundus, Jones and Carter (1976) and Greenhall et al. (1983) gave the range of D. r. murinus as extending from Mexico southward throughout northern South America to Amazonia. Unfortunately, no data were presented to support either the differentiation of these two forms or their geographic distribution. Although we are aware of some potentially significant geographic variation within D. rotundus , it is not currently possible to distinguish subspecies in the absence of a comprehensive revision.

Our material of Desmodus rotundus corresponds closely to that described from Surinam by Husson (1962, 1978) and from French Guiana by Brosset and Charles­Dominique (1990).

FIELD OBSERVATIONS: All of the five Desmodus rotundus we captured at Paracou were taken in ground­level mistnets. Two individuals were taken in well­drained primary forest, two in swampy primary forest, and one in a manmade clearing.