Myotis nigricans (Schinz, 1821)

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 : 137

Myotis nigricans (Schinz, 1821)

Figure 34B

VOUCHER MATERIAL (TOTAL = 5): Jenaro Herrera (MUSM 5601, 5602, 23795, 23796), Quebrada Blanco (MUSM 21341); see table 60 for measurements.

UNVOUCHERED OBSERVATIONS: We captured 12 Myotis nigricans at El Chino Village and another 3 at Tahuayo Farm.

IDENTIFICATION: As traditionally recognized, Myotis nigricans was a species complex, from which Larsen et al. (2012), Moratelli et al. (2013, 2017), and Moratelli and Wilson (2014b) have recently described new species and elevated others from synonymy. Nevertheless, M. nigricans (in its current, stricter sense) remains a widespread taxon, ranging from northwestern Mexico to northern Argentina and southern Brazil (Moratelli et al., 2013, 2017; Moratelli and Wilson, 2014b). As now recognized, M. nigricans is distinguished from other congeners by the following combination of traits: forearm <36 mm; dorsal pelage long, silky, and bicolored; no fringe of hairs along the trailing edge of the uropatagium; sagittal crest absent or weakly developed; and frontals steeply sloping (Moratelli et al., 2013). Descriptions and measurements of Myotis nigricans have been provided by Moratelli et al. (2013) and Moratelli and Wilson (2014b). Two subspecies are currently recognized: M. n. extremus (southern Mexico) and M. n. nigricans (eastern Mexico throughout tropical and subtropical South America on both sides of the Andes; Moratelli et al., 2013). However, analyses of cytochrome b sequence data have discovered>10 mitochondrial lineages within the range of the nominotypical subspecies (Larsen et al. 2012), highlighting the need for additional revisionary research on these bats.

Ascorra et al. (1993) correctly identified their specimens from Jenaro Herrera. The additional voucher material we examined from the Yavarí- Ucayali interfluve conforms to previous descriptions of Myotis nigricans , with measurements that fall within the range of size variation previously documented for the species.

REMARKS: Of 17 specimens of Myotis nigricans accompanied by ecological information from our region, 5 were captured in ground-level mistnets and 12 in harp traps; these captures included 4 in secondary vegetation, 12 in clearings, and 1 on a river beach.

Figures

FIG. 34. Photographs of A, an