Distribution of the bat Family Mormoopidae in Honduras

Abstract

Honduras is the second country in central America along with Panamá with the greatest bat diversity, and the insectivorous bats are the most diverse in the Chiroptera order. The family Mormoopidae has the largest number of records in Honduras and these bats are important as pest control in crops where they are present. To understand the importance of the Mormoopidae family in Honduras, we need to know where it is distributed. A species distribution model is a tool that provides information on the distribution of the species, based on presences records and climate variables. We collected information from free access databases like GBIF, reports, and paper publication to obtain presence data in Honduras. To run the models, we used Maxent in dismo package. Our results show a similar distribution for all species of Mormoopidae family, the principal causes that limited the distribution of the species are ecosystem type and altitude; some species tolerated evergreen forest and others prefer dry forest, in terms of elevation, in some species is limited from lowland to 1500 m.a.s.l., like Mormoops megalophylla, Pteronotus psilotis, and Pteronotus gymnonotus, and others can inhabit above 2800 m.a.s.l., like Pteronotus fulvus, and Pteronotus mesoamericanus. We need to obtain more records of species like M. megalophylla, P. psilotis, and P. gymnonotus. More surveys in the eastern part of Honduras are necessary where there are many information gaps, this would help us to have more robust models and a better understanding of the distribution of these species.