Lophostoma carrikeri ( Allen, 1910 )

Camacho, M. Alejandra, Chávez, Daniel & Burneo, Santiago F., 2016, A taxonomic revision of the Yasuni Round-eared bat, Lophostoma yasuni (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae), Zootaxa 4114 (3), pp. 246-260 : 254-258

Lophostoma carrikeri ( Allen, 1910)

Carriker’s Round-eared Bat Figure 4

Chrotopterus carrikeri Allen, 1910:147 ; type locality “Rio Mocho” Bolívar, Venezuela. Tonatia carrikeri Goodwin, 1942:207 ; name combination.

Lophostoma carrikeri: Lee, Hoofer, and Van Den Bussche, 2002 :55; first use of current name combination.

Lophostoma yasuni Fonseca and Pinto, 2004:1 ; type locality “vicinity of the Yasuní Research Station (00°30’S, 75°55’W, 220 m), Yasuní National Park and Biosphere Reserve, Province of Orellana, Ecuador.”

L [ophostoma]. yasuni: Tirira, 2007: 278 name combination.

Distribution. Lophostoma carrikeri is restricted to South America, known from Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia ( Figure 5 ).

Emended diagnosis. Lophostoma carrikeri is a medium size round-eared bat (FA 42.2–47.7 mm, GLS 23.0– 26.6 mm; CCL 19.0– 21.3 mm). L. carrikeri is larger than L. brasiliense and L. schulzi , but smaller than L. evotis , L. occidentalis , and L. silvicolum . All measurements overlap with those of L. kalkoae and L. schulzi ( Table 2 ). Craniodental measurements including variation from recently recorded specimens are presented in Table 5 .

L. carrikeri is easily identified by its plain white ventral fur from the throat through the abdomen, bordered along the flanks by the gray-brown dorsal fur ( Figure 4 ). Dorsal pelage is long and tricolored, with pale to whitish tips. Nose-leaf, chin, and base of the ears are blackish brown. These characters are shared with L. kalkoae although the latter has dark brown gular fur, whereas in L. carrikeri this region is pale to whitish. L. carrikeri lacks the white to pale post-auricular patches connected to the chest by a band of pale hairs present in L. kalkoae , L. occidentalis , and L. evotis . Ears are light brown to blackish with or without a whitish narrow margin. Proximal third of the dorsal surface of the forearm is sparsely haired; ventrally, forearm and adjacent membrane covered with short grayish hairs.

Skull length ranges from 23.0 to 26.6 mm ( Table 5 ). The skull is constricted postorbitally and is slightly concave in the orbital region; sagittal crests may vary, from well-developed in adult males to moderately developed or absent in females and young males ( Allen 1910; Goodwin 1942; McCarthy et al. 1992). Lateral development of the mastoid region is moderate. Short palatal length with posterior margin aligned with second molars. Upper medial incisors well developed and convergent. Shallow indentation on the lingual cingulum of the upper canine. P3 well developed. Posterior lingual cusp on P4 cingulum is weakly developed. M1 and M2 parastyles are absent. Lingual cingulum on both M1 and M2 is also absent. p3 well developed and in line with toothrow.

Comparisons. Relative to other Lophostoma species, L. carrikeri and L. kalkoae can be easily distinguished by the presence of pure white fur from the throat to the lower abdomen, bordered on the sides of the body by brown hair. These species are not known to occur in sympatry, but comparisons are made in case white-bellied Lophostoma are discovered on the western versant of the Andes in South America.Molecular evidence shows that many Neotropical bats from Central America appear more closely related to samples from the western versant of the Andes than to those from the eastern versant ( Patterson et al. 1992; Hoffmann & Baker 2001, 2003; Hoffmann et al. 2003; Fonseca et al. 2007; Larsen et al. 2007).

Despite the fact that all linear measurements of L. kalkoae overlap with those of L. carrikeri , some features differentiate these species. Gular fur is dark brown in L. kalkoae but pale to whitish in L. carrikeri . L. kalkoae has pale gray post-auricular patches, absent in L. carrikeri . Dorsal surface of the proximal third of the forearm in L. carrikeri is sparsely covered with hair, and rather naked in L. kalkoae .

In most features, the skull of L. carrikeri resembles that of L. kalkoae . Both species show slender rostra with a postorbital constriction. Lateral mastoid process is moderately developed in L. carrikeri , but less developed in L. kalkoae . Being larger, L. carrikeri may show more robust rostra and well developed lateral mastoid processes than L. kalkoae . L. carrikeri presents smaller incisors than L. kalkoae , resembling them in shape and direction. L. carrikeri shows a weak indentation on the lingual cingulum of the upper canine, deeply marked in L. kalkoae . P3 is short and less developed in L. carrikeri , whereas tall and well developed in L. kalkoae . Posterior lingual cusp on the cingulum of P4 less developed in L. carrikeri . L. carrikeri lacks a lingual cingulum in M1, unlike L. kalkoae . Other dental characters are equivalent in size and shape with those of L. kalkoae .

Natural history. No amendments are needed regarding the natural history of L. carrikeri . This species has been associated with mesic and riparian forests in lowlands ( McCarthy & Handley Jr 1988) and has been captured in Igapó, Varzea, semideciduous savanna, and dry forest in the Amazon Basin ( McCarthy & Handley Jr 1988; Gribel & Taddei 1989; Bernard & Fenton 2002; Sampaio et al. 2003; Castro-Arellano et al. 2007; Gregorin et al. 2008). Also, Zortéa et al. (2009) reported L. carrikeri in a transitional locality between a semideciduous forest and a riparian forest in the Cerrado Brazil. Apparently, the species prefers undisturbed forests. In Ecuador, L. carrikeri has been captured in primary terra firme forests with an understory of mature woody and herbaceous vegetation ( Camacho et al. 2014) in the Yasuni National Park, as well as in primary and secondary tropical rainforest with an understory mainly of immature woody and herbaceous vegetation ( Fonseca & Pinto 2004).

L. carrikeri may prefer hollowed termite nests as reported by Allen (1911) and McCarthy et al. (1983). Specimens from Ecuador were captured in ground level mist nets. Neither new behavioral traits nor diet information is available. Three records of ectoparasitic arthropods were collected from a specimen of Lophostoma carrikeri in Yasuni National Park, Ecuador, the first report of this species from Ecuador ( Camacho et al. 2014): Stizostrebla longirostris Jobling, 1939 ; Pseudostrebla sparsisetis Wenzel, 1976 ; and Mastoptera sp. Two of these, Stizostrebla longirostris and Pseudostrebla sparsisetis , are exclusively known to parasitize Lophostoma carrikeri .

Figures

FIGURE 4. Lophostoma carrikeri, adult female. QCAZ 13578. Location: Boanamo, Waorani Ethnic Reserve, Yasuni National Park. Photo courtesy of Diego Tirira.

FIGURE 5. Distribution of L. carrikeri, modified from Camacho et al. (2014). The star marks the type locality of L. yasuni. Triangles mark the locations of samples used in the genetic and morphological analyses.

Tables

TABLE 5. Mean, standard deviation, and range of external and craniodental measurements for Lophostoma carrikeri, including L. yasuni as a junior synonym of L. carrikeri.

Character	Measurement (in mm) (n=16)
FA	45.6 ± 1.5 (42.2–47.7)
GLS MET III CIL	24.3 ± 0.9 (23.0–26.6) 37.7 ± 1.4 (34.1–40.0) 21.0 ± 0.8 (19.8–23.0)
CCL BB ZB	20.3 ± 0.7 (19.0–21.3) 9.6 ± 0.3 (9.0–10.3) 11.2 ± 0.6 (10.3–12.7)
PB C–C	3.8 ± 0.2 (3.3–4.1) 4.5 ± 0.3 (4.1–5.5)
MSTW	9.6 ± 0.3 (9.0–10.2)
MPW	11.6 ± 0.5 (10.8–12.8)
PL	10.5 ± 0.5 (9.2–11.1)
MTRL	8.3 ± 0.4 (7.7–9.4)
MLTRL	6.8 ± 0.3 (6.0–7.3)
M2–M2	7.6 ± 0.4 (7.1–8.8)
DENL	15.0 ± 0.7 (13.8–16.9)
MANDL	9.3 ± 0.6 (8.6–11.0)
COH	5.6 ± 0.5 (5.0–7.0)