Neal Woodman

Comparison of Traps and Baits for Censusing Small Mammals in Neotropical Lowlands

Snap-traps, live-traps, and baits affect the ability to capture small mammals, but few previous studies have involved sampling communities of small mammals in tropical environments. We tested differences in captures of small marsupials and rodents by Victor snap-traps versus Sherman live-traps and by two types of bait in lowland rainforest at Reserva Cuzco Amaz6nico, southeastern Peru. Snap-traps took ca. 3.5 times as many individuals as live-traps. Snap-traps also captured more species (and more rare species), but we attribute this to more numerous captures overall because the relative proportions of species captured by the two traps generally were the same. Type of bait had little impact on our trapping results.

Characters and phylogenetic relationships of nectar-feeding bats, with descriptions of new Lonchophylla from western South America (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae: Lonchophyllini)

ABSTRACT The Neotropical Lonchophyllini (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) currently comprise four genera and thirteen species of nectar-feeding bats. These species often are separated into larger-bodied (eight species) and smaller-bodied (five species) forms to aid in identification. Our morphological and morphometrical analyses of the smaller Lonchophyllini revealed the existence of two distinctive, previously undescribed species of bats of the genus Lonchophylla from western South America. We describe a new form from Amazonian Peru as Lonchophylla pattoni and one from western Colombia as Lonchophylla cadenai. Phyllogenetic analysis of the Lonchophyllini based primarily on morphological characters indicates that these two new species are closely related to Lonchophylla thomasi.

Two new species of shrews (Soricidae) from the western highlands of Guatemala

Abstract The broad-clawed shrews (Soricomorpha: Soricidae: Cryptotis) encompass a clade of 5 species—Cryptotis alticolus (Merriam), C. goldmani (Merriam), C. goodwini Jackson, C. griseoventris Jackson, and C. peregrinus (Merriam)—that is known collectively as the Cryptotis goldmani group and is characterized by broadened forefeet, elongated and broadened fore claws, and broadened humeri. These shrews are distributed in highland regions from central Mexico to Honduras. Two broad-clawed shrews, C. goodwini and C. griseoventris, occur in southern Mexico and Guatemala and are presumed sister species whose primary distinguishing feature is the larger size of C. goodwini. In an investigation of variation within and between these 2 species, I studied characteristics of the postcranial skeleton. Statistical analyses of a variety of character suites indicate that the forelimb morphology in this group exhibits less intraspecific variation and greater interspecific variation than cranio-mandibular morphology, although most skull characters support groupings based on forelimb characters. Together, these characters define 4 distinct groups among the specimens examined. C. griseoventris is restricted to the northern highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, and C. goodwini occurs in the southern highlands of Chiapas and Guatemala. Herein, I describe 2 new species of broad-clawed shrews from the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, Guatemala.

A new species of nectar-feeding bat, genus Lonchophylla, from western Colombia and western Ecuador (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

ABSTRACT The twelve recognized species of nectar-feeding bats of the genus Lonchophylla occur in low- and middle-elevation, humid, Neotropical forests. Morphological and morphometrical analyses of specimens formerly lumped with Lonchophylla mordax O. Thomas (1903) support recognition of Lonchophylla concava Goldman (1914) as a separate species and reveal a third species from the western Pacific lowlands of Colombia and Ecuador that I describe herein as Lonchophylla fornicata. This new species is morphologically similar to Lonchophylla concava but is distinctively larger than that species. Tests for sexual dimorphism within these and other species of Lonchophyllini suggest a tendency for females to have slightly longer, narrower skulls, higher coronoid processes of the mandible, and longer forearms than males.

THE HUMERUS OF CRYPTOTIS COLOMBIANA AND ITS BEARING ON THE SPECIES’ PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS (SORICOMORPHA: SORICIDAE)

Abstract The Colombian small-eared shrew, Cryptotis colombiana Woodman and Timm, was described from the Colombian Andes in 1993. Its original allocation to the C. nigrescens group recently was questioned based on several cranial characters the species appeared to share with some members of the C. thomasi group. We review characteristics of the C. nigrescens and C. thomasi groups, and we describe the humerus of C. colombiana and the humerus and manus of C. medellinia. The morphology of the humerus joins the suite of characters that supports the hypotheses that C. colombiana is not a member of the C. thomasi group and that all remaining South American species form a cohesive, definable set that is probably monophyletic.

Can They Dig It? Functional Morphology and Semifossoriality Among Small-Eared Shrews, Genus Cryptotis (Mammalia, Soricidae)

Small‐eared shrews (Mammalia: Soricidae: Cryptotis), exhibit modifications of the forelimb skeleton that have been interpreted as adaptations for semifossoriality. Most species inhabit remote regions, however, and their locomotory and foraging behaviors remain mostly speculative. To better understand the morphological modifications in the absence of direct observations, we quantified variation in these species by measuring 151 individuals representing 18 species and populations of Cryptotis and two species of moles (Talpidae) for comparison. From our measurements, we calculated 22 indices, most of which have been used previously to characterize substrate use among rodents and other taxa. We analyzed the indices using 1) average percentile ranks, 2) principal components analysis, and 3) cluster analysis. From these analyses, we determined that three basic modes of substrate adaptation are present within Cryptotis: 1) a primarily terrestrial mode, with species that are capable of burrowing, but lack adaptations to increase digging efficiency, 2) a semifossorial mode, with species whose forelimbs bones show strong muscle attachment areas and increased mechanical advantage, and 3) an intermediate mode. In addition to identifying new morphological characters and contributing to our understanding of the functional morphology of soricids, these analyses provide additional insight into the ecology of the species of interest. J. Morphol. 275:745–759, 2014.

A Curious Pellet From a Great Horned Owl (Bubo Virginianus)

Abstract One of the traditional methods of determining the dietary preferences of owls relies upon the identification of bony remains of prey contained in regurgitated pellets. Discovery of a pellet containing a large, complete primary feather from an adult, male Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) prompted us to examine in detail a small sample of pellets from a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). Our analyses of feather and hair remains in these pellets documented the presence of three species of birds and two species of mammals, whereas bones in the pellets represented only mammals. This finding indicates an important bias that challenges the reliability of owl pellet studies making use of only osteological remains.

The Correct Gender of Mammalian Generic Names Ending in -Otis

Mammalian generic names ending in -otis include Cloetis , Cryptotis , Dolichotis , Laephotis , Macrotis , Myotis , Pharotis , and Phyllotis . In the literature many of these names currently are associated with a combination of feminine, masculine, and neuter adjectival species names, in violation of the Code of Zoological Nomenclature. These generic names are feminine in gender, and the species names with which they are combined must be corrected appropriately.

The Overmyer mastodon (Mammut americanum) from Fulton County, Indiana

ABSTRACT In June 1978 the partial skeleton of an American mastodon, Mammut americanum, was salvaged from a drainage ditch in Fulton County, north-central Indiana. The remains were recovered mostly from ca. 170–260 cm below the current land surface in marl overlain by peat and peaty marl. The stratigraphy of the site indicates that the remains were deposited in a small, open-water pond that subsequently filled. The skeleton, which is 41–48% complete, is that of a mature female, ca. 30–34 y old at death based on dental eruption and wear. Postcranial bone measurements indicate that this individual was relatively large for a female. Radiocarbon dating of wood from under the pelvis of the mastodon provided a maximum date of 12,575 ± 260 14C y BP [15,550–13,850 cal y BP] for the animal, which is up to 2575 14C y before the species is believed to have become extinct. Pollen samples from the site corroborate the interpretation that the regional climate was cooler and more humid than at present and supported a mixed spruce-deciduous parkland assemblage. The relatively small size of the molars of this and other mastodons from Indiana supports the hypothesis that late-glacial mastodons—just prior to their extinction—were smaller in size relative to earlier, full-glacial conspecifics. The relationship between molar size and body size is not clear, however, and there may be geographical factors as well as a temporal influence to size variation in these animals.

Morphological distinctiveness of Javan Tupaia hypochrysa (Scandentia, Tupaiidae)

Abstract The common treeshrew, Tupaia glis, represents a species complex with a complicated taxonomic history. It is distributed mostly south of the Isthmus of Kra on the Malay Peninsula and surrounding islands. In our recent revision of a portion of this species complex, we did not fully assess the population from Java (T. “glis” hypochrysa) because of our limited sample. Herein, we revisit this taxon using multivariate analyses in comparisons with T. glis, T. chrysogaster of the Mentawai Islands, and T. ferruginea from Sumatra. Analyses of both the manus and skull of Javan T. “glis” hypochrysa show it to be most similar to T. chrysogaster and distinct from both T. glis and T. ferruginea. Yet, the Javan population and T. chrysogaster have different mammae counts, supporting recognition of T. hypochrysa as a distinct species. The change in taxonomic status of T. hypochrysa has conservation implications for both T. glis and this Javan endemic.