A new species of nectar-feeding bat, genus Lonchophylla, from the Caatinga of Brazil (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae).

Ricardo Moratelli,Daniela Dias

doi:10.3897/zookeys.514.10013

Abstract

We describe Lonchophylla inexpectata sp. n. from the Caatinga of Brazil. This new species can be distinguished from all known species of Lonchophylla that occur in Brazil by dental traits, cranial size, and fur colour. Specimens of Lonchophylla inexpectata have been misidentified as Lonchophylla mordax; but Lonchophylla inexpectata is a pale-venter species, similar in external appearance to Lonchophylla dekeyseri. We have found Lonchophylla inexpectata in the Caatinga of North-eastern Brazil; Lonchophylla mordax along the eastern border of the Caatinga and in the Atlantic Forest–Caatinga ecotone in North-eastern Brazil; and Lonchophylla dekeyseri in the Cerrado of Mid-western Brazil, in the Brazilian Cerrado–Caatinga ecotone, and as far west as the Cerrado of Bolivia.

Highlights

Lonchophylla Thomas, 1903 (Phyllostomidae) comprises 12 species of nectar-feeding bats restricted to the Neotropics (Griffiths and Gardner 2008, Parlos et al 2014). Parlos et al (2014) revised the Lonchophyllinae and established Hsunycteris as a new genus to include the smaller species formerly known as the Lonchophylla thomasi complex.Copyright Ricardo Moratelli, Daniela Dias
To test the results obtained from the morphological analyses, we performed a discriminant function analysis including samples we confidently assigned to L. dekeyseri, L. inexpectata, and L. mordax
Previous assignments of L. inexpectata to L. mordax seem to have originated with Lima (1926: 36) who based his account of L. mordax on the series from Barra, which was collected by Garbe and deposited in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo

Summary

Introduction

Lonchophylla Thomas, 1903 (Phyllostomidae) comprises 12 species of nectar-feeding bats restricted to the Neotropics (Griffiths and Gardner 2008, Parlos et al 2014). Parlos et al (2014) revised the Lonchophyllinae and established Hsunycteris as a new genus to include the smaller species formerly known as the Lonchophylla thomasi complex. Bahia is in the sertão sub region (450 to 500 km west of Lamarão), a semi-arid environment that is characteristic of the Caatinga (Prado 2003) According to their labels, Garbe’s and Becker’s specimens from Barra were identified as L. mordax and either originally deposited or subsequently sent to museums in Brazil and United States of America. Among distinctive traits distinguishing the Barra specimen from L. mordax are the paler colour of the ventral fur and the smaller skull that has a narrower and more delicate rostrum To test this hypothesis and further understand the geographic distribution of Brazilian species, we examined series of Lonchophylla from localities in the Caatinga, Cerrado, and Atlantic Forest, as well as from transitional zones between these habitats. During this process we found additional features that support our hypothesis that the pale-venter Lonchophylla from the Caatinga represents a new species, which we describe below

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Discussion