Lampronycteris brachyotis (Dobson, 1879)

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 : 55-56

Lampronycteris brachyotis (Dobson, 1879)

VOUCHER MATERIAL (TOTAL = 6): Nuevo San Juan (AMNH 273146, 273147, 273177; MUSM 15203–15205); see table 26 for measurements.

UNVOUCHERED OBSERVATIONS: A single specimen (MUSM 12989) of Lampronycteris brachyotis collected at Jenaro Herrera was reported by

TABLE 26

External Measurements (mm) and Weights (g) of Lampronycteris brachyotis from the Yavarí-Ucayali Interfluve

Solari et al. (1999), who published external and craniodental measurements consistent with their identification of this distinctive species. Unfortunately, the specimen has since been lost.

IDENTIFICATION: Lampronycteris brachyotis , the only member of its genus, is a widespread species with a patchy distribution that extends from southern Mexico to eastern Brazil (Medellín et al., 1985; Marciente and Calouro, 2009; Reid, 2009; Scultori et al., 2009a; Oliveira and Faria, 2015). This species is easily distinguished from other micronycterines by the following combination of traits: ears not connected by a transverse band of skin across the top of the head; pinnae pointed, each with a concavity on the posterior border near the tip; ear length ca. 16 mm; dorsal fur bicolored; yellow-orange to reddish unicolored fur on the throat and upper chest; third metacarpal longer than fourth metacarpal, which is longer than the fifth; calcar shorter than foot; rostrum inflated, especially in the lacrimal region; shallow basisphenoid pits; upper inner incisors less than half the height of upper canines; upper incisors chisel shaped and in line with canines; and trifid lower incisors (Sanborn, 1949a; Goodwin and Greenhall, 1961; Simmons, 1996; Williams and Genoways, 2008; López-Baucells et al., 2018). Descriptions and measurements of L. brachyotis were provided by Sanborn (1949a), Goodwin and Greenhall (1961), Swanepoel and Genoways (1979), Medellín et al. (1985), Simmons (1996), Marciente and Calouro (2009), Scultori et al. (2009a), Oliveira and Faria (2015), and Brandão et al. (2016). No subspecies are currently recognized (Williams and Genoways, 2008).

Fleck et al. (2002) correctly identified the specimens from Nuevo San Juan, all of which conform to previous descriptions of Lampronycteris brachyotis and have measurements that fall within the range of size variation previously documented for the species.

REMARKS: All the specimens of Lampronycteris brachyotis from Nuevo San Juan were collected from two roosts, both of of which were in the rotted-out central cavities of large standing trees. The first, which was visited three times in 1999, was in seasonally flooded forest. An unknown number of bats occupied this roost, where they were difficult to see as they clustered about 18 m above the ground in the dark, chimneylike interior. On 22 September 1999 only Carollia perspicillata was collected in this roost, but on 14 October we collected several Lampronycteris brachyotis (two adult males, one adult female, and one juvenile male) in addition to Carollia perspicillata , and on 25 October we collected another Lampronycteris brachyotis (an adult male) in addition to Carollia perspicillata and Trachops cirrhosus . The second roost, encountered on 29 October 1999, was in a palm swamp; many bats occupied the hollow interior of this tree, including an unknown number of individuals of both Lampronycteris brachyotis (of which one adult male was collected) and Carollia perspicillata .

Our observations from Nuevo San Juan appear to be the first Amazonian records of diurnal refugia for Lampronycteris brachyotis , but extralimital observations (from Central America, Trinidad, and Venezuela; Goodwin and Greenhall, 1961; Handley, 1976; Weinbeer and Kalko, 2004) also suggest that, in caveless landscapes, this species roosts in hollow standing trees.