Hsunycteris thomasi (Allen, 1904)

Velazco, Paúl M., Voss, Robert S., Fleck, David W. & Simmons, Nancy B., 2021, Mammalian Diversity And Matses Ethnomammalogy In Amazonian Peru Part 4: Bats, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2021 (451), pp. 1-201 : 52-54

Hsunycteris thomasi (Allen, 1904)

Figure 13B , 14

VOUCHER MATERIAL (TOTAL = 6): Jenaro Herrera (MUSM 5509, 5931), Quebrada Blanco

(MUSM 21170–21172), Santa Cecilia (FMNH 87070); see table 24 for measurements.

UNVOUCHERED OBSERVATIONS: We captured four individuals of Hsunycteris thomasi at El Chino village on 17 February 2019.

IDENTIFICATION: Hsunycteris thomasi occurs from Panama throughout most of northern South America to eastern Bolivia and central Brazil (Griffiths and Gardner, 2008b; Reid, 2009). Although Parlos et al. (2014) reported analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear markers indicating that populations of H. thomasi are paraphyletic with respect to H. pattoni , no morphological traits appear to distinguish members of the two clades of H. thomasi recovered in their molecular analyses (Velazco et al., 2017). Sequence data from the holotype of H. thomasi should be obtained to determine which of the two Hsunycteris clades the epithet properly applies to, and which clade represents an undescribed taxon, but our attempts to do so have thus far been unsuccessful (Velazco et al., 2017). Currently, H. thomasi is best regarded as a potential species complex, although the extent of lineage differentiation remains uncertain.

Populations of Hsunycteris thomasi (as this species is currently understood; see above) can be distinguished from other congeners by the following combination of characteristics: small size (forearm ≤34.5 mm); metacarpal V subequal to metacarpal IV in length; dermal papillae on chin arranged in a V but not separated by a wide basal cleft; narrow rostrum; postorbital region lacking lateral projections; lateral margin of infraorbital foramen not projecting beyond rostral outline in dorsal view; extent of maxillary posterior to M3 greater than the length of M3; dentary deep; angular process broad; outer upper incisors small; second upper premolar lingual cusp present; third upper premolar lingual cusp

TABLE 25

Roosting Groups of Hsunycteris pattoni Observed near Nuevo San Juan

broad; M1 parastyle well developed; lower incisors small and narrow; m1 paracristid notch weakly developed or absent; m2 hypoconid narrow (Velazco et al., 2017). Descriptions and measurements of H. thomasi have been provided by Husson (1962, 1978), Swanepoel and Genoways (1979), Brosset and Charles-Dominique (1990), Simmons and Voss (1998), Albuja V and Gardner (2005), Woodman and Timm (2006), and Velazco et al. (2017). No subspecies are currently recognized (Velazco et al., 2017).

Specimens from Jenaro Herrera were identified as Lonchophylla mordax (MUSM 5931) or as L. thomasi (MUSM 5509) by Ascorra et al. (1993). Velazco et al. (2017) reidentified Ascorra et al.’s material and other voucher specimens from the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluve, all of which conform to previous descriptions of H. thomasi , with measurements that fall within the range of size variation previously documented for the species.

REMARKS: Of six recorded captures of Hsunycteris thomasi accompanied by ecological data from our region, four were in ground-level mistnets and two were in elevated nets; five of these captures were in clearings and one was in primary forest. No roosting groups of this species were encountered during our study.

Figures

FIG. 13. Photographs of A, an adult male (ROM 122182) Hsunycteris pattoni captured at Jenaro Herrera; and B, an adult H. thomasi captured at Quebrada Blanco. Photographs by Burton Lim (A) and Marco Tschapka (B).

FIG. 14. Hsunycteris cf. thomasi feeding on a Chelonanthus alatus (Gentianaceae) at Jenaro Herrera. Photograph by Marco Tschapka.