Tonatia saurophila, Koopman & Williams, 1951

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 : 88-89

Tonatia saurophila Koopman and Williams

VOUCHER MATERIAL: 10 females (AMNH *266044, *266045, *266046, *266047, *267429, *267908, *267914; MNHN *1995.1060, *1995.1061, *1995.1062) and 11 males (AMNH *266049, *267099, *267909, *267430, *267431, *267912, *267915; MNHN *1995.1063, *1995.1064, *1995.1065, *1995.1066); see table 30 for measurements.

IDENTIFICATION: Species identification within the Tonatia bidens complex, which includes T. saurophila , requires reference to craniodental characters described by Williams et al. (1995). Other useful descriptions and comparative measurements of T. saurophila from the Guianas may be found (incorrectly listed under T. bidens ) in Husson (1962, 1978), Hill (1964), Genoways and Williams (1984), and Brosset and Charles­ Dominique (1990). Williams et al. (1995) summarized measurements of T. saurophila from throughout its known geographic range. Three subspecies of T. saurophila are presently recognized: T. s. bakeri (southern Mexico to northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela), T. s. maresi (southern and northeastern Venezuela, eastern Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, the Guianas, and eastern Brazil), and T. s. saurophila (Jamaica) ( Williams et al., 1995).

Our voucher material corresponds closely to Williams et al.’ s (1995) description of Tonatia saurophila maresi , with measurement data generally falling within the range of variation they reported; the only exception is the forearm length of one of our females, which slightly exceeds the largest value previously reported for the subspecies. As T. s. maresi is the smaller of the two mainland forms, however, this measurement falls within the known range of variation for the species T. saurophila as a whole.

None of the individuals of Tonatia saurophila that we captured at Paracou folded its ears over the crown of the head when touched.

FIELD OBSERVATIONS: We recorded 61 captures (possibly including some recaptures) of Tonatia saurophila at Paracou, of which 60 were in ground­level mistnets and 1 was in an elevated net. Of the 60 ground­level mistnet captures, 23 were in well­drained primary forest, 26 were in swampy primary forest, 8 were in creekside primary forest, 2 were in closed­canopy secondary growth, and 1 was in a manmade clearing. The only capture we recorded in an elevated net was made at 7–10 m above a treefall in creekside primary forest.