Myotis levis (I. Geoffroy, 1824)

Novaes, Roberto Leonan M., Claudio, Vinicius C., Diaz, M. Monica, Wilson, Don E., Weksler, Marcelo & Moratelli, Ricardo, 2022, Argentinean Myotis (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae), including the description of a new species from the Yungas, Vertebrate Zoology 72, pp. 1187-1216 : 1187

Myotis levis (I. Geoffroy, 1824)

Comments.

Medium-sized species (FA 36.5-40.1 mm, body mass 6-8 g; Table 5 , Fig. 8 ), with silky, moderately long fur (LDH 6-8 mm, LVH 4-7 mm). Ears comparatively long (length 16-19 mm). Dorsal fur bicolored, with blackish bases (2/3 hair length) and the tips (1/3 hair length) ranging from Mummy Brown to Bister. The ventral fur is strongly bicolored, with blackish bases (1/2 hair length) and tips (1/2 hair length) Ivory Yellow or Drab Gray. Membranes and ears Mummy Brown. Legs and dorsal surface of uropatagium naked. A fringe of hairs along the trailing edge of the uropatagium present. The plagiopatagium attached to feet on the level of the base of the toes by a wide band of membrane. Skull medium to large in size (GLS 14.4-15.5 mm, BCB 6.8-7.5 mm), and the rostrum is comparatively long and broad. The P3 is approximately the same size as P2, or slightly smaller, and usually aligned in the toothrow and visible in labial view. Sagittal crest absent or very low; lambdoidal crests usually present and ranging from low to medium. Parietals incline subtly forward to the frontal bone; occipital region rounded and projecting beyond the occipital condyle limits; braincase elongated in dorsal view; the postorbital and interorbital constrictions are comparatively narrow.

This species occurs from Southeastern Brazil southward to Uruguay, Paraguay, and eastern Argentina, from ombrophilous Atlantic Forest to Pampa grasslands ( LaVal 1973; Wilson 2008; Moratelli et al. 2019a). In Argentina it is present in the Provinces of Buenos Aires, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Misiones, and Santa Fe, occurring in scrubland savannas in an altitudinal range from sea level to 200 m ( Barquez and Díaz 2020).

Figures

Figure 8. Adult male of Myotis levis (CML 4127) from Buenos Aires, Argentina.