Occurrence of Sturnira tildae De La Torre, 1959 (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in the state of Maranhão, Brazil

Amanda Cristiny Da Silva Lima,Samira Brito Mendes,Bruno Augusto Torres Parahyba Campos,Maria Claudene Barros,Fabio Henrique Souza Cardoso,Cleison Luís Da Silva Costa,Elmary Costa Fraga

doi:10.11606/1807-0205/2021.61.72

Amanda Cristiny Da Silva Lima, Samira Brito Mendes + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2021.61.72

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Abstract

The bat genus Sturnira is widely distributed in the Neotropical region, from northwestern Mexico to northern Argentina, and four species occur in Brazil: Sturnira lilium, Sturnira giannae, Sturnira magna, and Sturnira tildae. The present study is the first to record Sturnira tildae in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, based on morphological and molecular diagnoses. The specimen was identified based on its cranial and morphometric traits. The diagnostic traits include discreetly bilobed inner upper incisors with a broad base, lower first and second molars with lingual cusps separated by shallow grooves, and forearm longer than 45 mm. The molecular sequences of Cytochrome C Oxidase Subunit 1 (COI) and 16S rRNA genes confirmed the morphological identification and thus the occurrence of Sturnira tildae in the Amazon biome of Maranhão. This record represents an eastward extension of the known distribution of the species in the Amazonia, to Cândido Mendes, Maranhão, within an area dominated by dense rainforest and influenced by tides.

Highlights

Brazil has is the country with the third richest bat fauna in the world, with 181 species representing 68 genera and nine families (Garbino et al, 2020; Velazco 2021)
The present study provides the first record of S. tildae from the Brazilian state of Maranhão, and only the fifth for the Brazilian Northeast geographic region
The present study extends the known distribution of S. tildae to the eastern extreme of the Amazon biome

Summary

Introduction

Brazil has is the country with the third richest bat fauna in the world, with 181 species (including eight endemics) representing 68 genera and nine families (Garbino et al, 2020; Velazco 2021) Much of this diversity is found in the Amazon biome, which is home to most of the species known to occur in Brazil (Bernard et al, 2011). In this scenario, the Amazon of Maranhão, in the eastern extreme of the biome, is one of the Amazonian regions that have a fragmented distribution of bat species records, but which are gradually a number of recent studies have provided important insights into the distribution of chiropterans in this region A number of studies reporting the fauna of poorly-known areas associated with phylogenetic analyses, have advanced the scientific understanding of phyllostomid diversity, including the discovery of new species and the expansion of the inventories available for many genera, such as Sturnira (Miretzki et al, 2002)

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