Eptesicus taddeii, Miranda, João M. D., Bernardi, Itiberê P. & Passos, Fernando C., 2006

Miranda, João M. D., Bernardi, Itiberê P. & Passos, Fernando C., 2006, A new species of Eptesicus (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Zootaxa 1383, pp. 57-68 : 65-66

Separation between E. taddeii sp. nov. and E. brasiliensis

1 Smaller size; forearm length between 40.5–46.5 mm; greatest skull length 16.7–17.5 mm; condylobasal length 15.5–16.9 mm; maxillary toothrow length 6.3–6.8 mm; mandibular toothrow length 6.6–7.4 mm; width across canines 5.0– 5.7 mm

..................................................................................................... Eptesicus brasiliensis Larger size; forearm length between 44.1–48.7 mm; greatest skull length 17.3–18.4 mm; condylobasal length 16.0– 17.4 mm; maxillary toothrow length 6.4–7.1 mm; mandibular toothrow length 7.1–7.7 mm; width across canines 5.5–6.1 mm; general coloration from reddish brown to red; more conspicuous (inflated) muzzle and rounder ears ( Figure 1 a and 1b) ........................................................ Eptesicus taddeii sp. nov.

Holotype.— Adult male: skin and skull with the following tags: / Holotype, Eptesicus taddeii Miranda; Bernardi & Passos det. 2006/. /Coletor: Miranda, J. M. D. et al.; Provenance: São Luiz do Purunã, Balsa Nova, Paraná, Brasil; date: 22.XII.2005 /. / DZUP 246/. Deposited in the Mastozoological collection of the Universidade Federal do Paraná, Departamento de Zoologia, Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil .

Paratypes.— 12 females, collected in the same location and by the same collectors as the holotype, and deposited in the same collection under the following collection numbers: DZUP 247, 253, 254, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 265 and 266 . Seven adult males, collected in the same location and by the same collectors as the holotype, and deposited in the same collection under the following collection numbers: DZUP 229, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252 and 255 . An adult male, collected in Cerro Azul, State of Paraná, by I. S. Arnoni were deposited in the same collection under the collection number DZUP 0 98 . Two females, collected in Passos Maia, State of Santa Catarina, by J. M. D. Miranda and M. F. M. Azevedo-Barros, were deposited in the same collection as the holotype under the collection numbers DZUP 263 and 264 . A female, collected in Ribeira do Iguape, State of São Paulo, was deposited in the mastozoological collection of the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, under the collection number MZUSP 26455 . The skins and skulls were deposited separately, with the skins preserved in 70% ethanol.

Type locality.—Fazenda Monjolo, District of São Luiz do Purunã, Municipality of Balsa Nova, State of Paraná, Southern Brazil (25º26’58” S and 49º41’51” W).

Etymology. – The species name is a homage to Prof. Dr. Valdir Antônio Taddei in recognition of his great contribution to the study of Neotropical bats.

Distribution.— Eptesicus taddeii sp. nov. is hitherto known to occur in the Southern and Southeastern of Brazil. The occurrence records are from: District of São Luiz do Purunã (25º26’58”S and 49º41’51”W), Municipality of Balsa Nova, State of Paraná; State Park of Campinhos (24º49’25”S and 49º15’40”W), Municipality of Cerro Azul, State of Paraná; Municipality of Passos Maia (26º46’48”S and 52º03’34”W), State of Santa Catarina, and locality of Barra do Ribeira (24º42’29”S and 47º33’19”W), Municipality of Iguape, State of São Paulo. This species appears to occur in the Atlantic Rainforest sensu lato, with most of the occurrences being included in Araucaria Pine Forests ( Figure 3 ).

Remarks.— The species was captured using mist nets (6x 2.5 m, 7x 2.5 m, and 9x 2.5 m), which were set up 0.5 m above the ground. Eptesicus taddeii sp. nov. was active all night, with captures from 6:30 PM to 5:40 AM. Captures occurred both in primary forests and in regenerating forests and forest edges. It appears to be an insectivore, as in the case of most members of the Vespertilionidae family. In addition to the new species, Eptesicus brasiliensis and E. furinalis were collected in the type locality, in syntopy. Given the high level of morphological similarity between Eptesicus taddeii sp. nov. and E. brasiliensis , it is likely that specimens of E. taddeii sp. nov. are presently misidentified in zoological collections as E. brasiliensis . In fact, this was shown to be the case in an analysis of the specimens MZUSP 26455, DZUP 0 98 and 229, which were inspected during this study and shown to belong to the new species. A broad revision of the genus might increase the currently known distribution of E. taddeii sp. nov.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Differences between Eptesicus brasiliensis and Eptesicus taddeii sp. nov. Faces of E. brasiliensis (1 a) and E. taddeii sp. nov. (1 b). Skulls in dorsal view of E. brasiliensis (1 c) and E. taddeii sp. nov. (1 d). Skulls and mandibles in latteral view of E. brasiliensis (1 e) and E. taddeii sp. nov. (1 f). Bar scale = 0.4 mm.

FIGURE 3. Known localities for Eptesicus taddeii sp. nov. in South America. (1) Locality of Barra do Ribeira, Municipality of Iguape, State of São Paulo; (2) State Park of Campinhos, Cerro Azul Municipality, State of Paraná; (3) District of São Luiz do Purunã, Municipality of Balsa Nova, State of Paraná (Type locality) and (4) Municipality of Passos Maia, State of Santa Catarina.