E. Lendell Cockrum

Migration in the Guano Bat Tadarida Brasiliensis Mexicana (Saussure)

This paper attempts to marshal all of the evidence available from various sources (including: published observations of fluctuations in population size; field observations in Mexico; field observations in Arizona; banding activities in Mexico; banding activities in Arizona; and banding activities by others), interprets the evidence under the headings of discussion of observations on fluctuations in population size and discussion of results of banding activities and concludes that the guano bat, Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana (Saussure), is seasonally migratory, at least from the northern parts of its range in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

Homing, Movements, and Longevity of Bats

As far as is known, bats were first banded in the United States in 1916, when Dr. A. A. Allen, an ornithologist, marked five pipistrelles with bird bands (Allen, 1921). Little banding of bats was done during the next 16 years; in fact it was not until 1932 that intensive studies were undertaken. Between 1932 and 1951 a total of 67,279 bats were banded in the United States and Canada. Over 50,000 of these were banded in caves, usually in the wintertime while the bats were in the inactive hibernating condition (Mohr, 1953). Most of these studies were made in the eastern United States. Most of the findings of these banding studies have related to the homing ability, movements, and longevity of various species of the more colonial, cave dwelling bats. No intensive studies have been made of the more solitary tree dwelling bats. The purpose of this paper is to summarize some of these findings of other workers and to add the results of banding studies that I have carried on. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the National Science Foundation for Research Grant G-333 (Investigations of the Mammals of Arizona) for financial assistance for field work in Arizona. I am also grateful to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for furnishing the bands used in my studies in Illinois, Kansas and Arizona, and to Dr. Fred R. Cagle, Department of Zoology, Tulane University of Louisiana, New Orleans, Louisiana, for making available to me the original banding data for the bats banded in Illinois. Since banding studies usually involve much work, I have often imposed upon my friends, associates and students for assistance. Among those whose efforts warrant special thanks are the following: my wife, Irma Cockrum; Drs. A. B. Leonard and A. B. Wiliams; Lee Beatty and Keith …

Repeated Homing Exhibited by a Female Pallid Bat

A pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) returned home from eight consecutive releases from six distinctly different directions and from distances ranging from 21 to 68 miles. This performance indicates that chance alone cannot be a major factor in homing, and that certain abilities possessed by this bat, and not simply randomness, must have been in operation.

Sperm Whales Stranded on the Beaches of the Gulf of California

Reports of one or even two whales stranded on the beach are not unusual but the stranding of a number of whales at one time is unusual. Two cases of multiple strandings of sperm whales in the Gulf of California, Mexico, have come to my attention in recent years. Mr. Glenton …

The Pocketed Freetail Bat, Tadarida femerosacca, in Arizona

The pocketed freetail bat is apparently rare in collections. Shamel (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 78: 13, 1931), when he made a survey of the American members of the genus Tadarida , had only nine specimens available from seven localities in the United States and Mexico. These were: Arizona—Fort Huachuca, 1; Coyote Mountains, 1. California— Agua Caliente, 1; mouth of Colorado River, 1 (=Baja California, see Neil, Jour. Mamm., 21: 356, 1940). Baja California—Santa Anita, 1; San Pedro Mountains, 1. Jalisco—Zacoalco, 3. Since Shamels report the pocketed freetail bat has been reported from four additional localities, two in Mexico and two in southern California. Benson (Jour. Mamm., 21: 26–29, 1940) reported a series of 11 specimens (six males, five females) taken by him the …

New Genus and Species, Idionycteris phyllotis, Recorded from the United States

The Mexican big-eared bat, Idionycteris phyllotis (Allen) is one of the rarest bats in North America. Handley (Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 69, 1956) has reviewed the taxo-nomic history of the two previously known specimens. The first, secured on March 24, 1878, in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, became the type of Corynorhinus phyllotis as named by G. M. Allen (Bul. Mus. Comp. Zool., 60: 352, April, 1916). The second specimen, a female taken on June 17, 1922, at Miquihauna, Tamalipas, Mexico was described as a new …