Ricardo Moratelli

Checklist of Brazilian bats, with comments on original records

Lists of Brazilian bats have been compiled since the late 19th century, with remarkable variation in the criteria for species inclusion and use of nomenclature. To update the list of extant bat species that occur in Brazil, the Brazilian Bat Research Society created the Committee of the List of Brazilian Bats. Here we report the first result of the work of this Committee: a list with nine families, 68 genera, and 178 species with documented occurrence in Brazil, including nomenclatural comments. We also present two additional species lists: one with doubtful records (10 species) and other with erroneous records (six species). Since the beginning of the 21st century, 35 new bat species have been recorded for Brazil, and we anticipate that more species will be uncovered over the next years.

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

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.

Current and potential distribution of Myotis simus (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae)

Abstract Myotis simus is apparently restricted to tropical and subtropical South American lowlands, with a possible disjunction isolating northern and southern populations. Twenty-eight museum and literature records were assembled and analysed in the context of a taxonomic review of South American species of Myotis. In order to model the distribution of M. simus, to reveal putative areas of occurrence and environmental constraints to its distribution, as well as to test the previously proposed hypothesis of disjunct distribution, Maximum entropy algorithm (MaxEnt) was implemented on the information retrieved from the sampling localities, using nine environmental variables. Two regions with increased probability values were revealed in the Amazon and Paraná basins, connected by a bottleneck in southeastern Bolivia, which provides further support for the previously proposed hypothesis of disjunctive distribution. The predicted distribution for M. simus was strongly associated with the drainage basins, precipitations of the driest quarter, mean temperatures of the warmest quarter and altitude. The Andean eastern slopes and the Guyana, Paraná and Central Brazilian plateaus delimit the geographical distribution of M. simus, and the confirmed records document its presence in both terra firme and floodplain areas in lowland forest and savanna formations across South America.

Review of Myotis (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) from Northern South America, Including Description of a New Species

ABSTRACT We describe a new species of bat in the genus Myotis (Vespertilionidae, Myotinae) from the coastal mountains of Venezuela. The new species (Myotis handleyi, sp. nov.) can be distinguished from other South American congeners by the following set of traits: dorsal fur long, silky, and bicolored with burnished tips; skull long; rostrum long and broad; frontals moderately to steeply sloping; sagittal crest absent or very low; plagiopatagium broadly attached to the foot at the level of the base of the toes; fringe of hairs along the trailing edge of uropatagium absent; and fur on uropatagium not reaching knees. We review Colombian and Venezuelan samples of Myotis, covering all of the currently recognized species known from these countries. Based on our analyses, we provide a sketch of the taxonomic diversity of the genus in Colombia and Venezuela, along with a key to their identification. Among other conclusions, we elevate M. nigricans caucensis to the species level; confirm that populations of M. nigricans from the opposite sides of the Andes represent the same taxon; retain J.A. Allens names M. esmeraldae, M. bondae, and M. maripensis in the synonymy of M. nigricans; and document clinal variation in size along an altitudinal gradient for M. nigricans, with larger specimens from higher elevations. This research, based on museum and field collections, is one of a series of studies by the senior author re-evaluating species limits among Neotropical Myotis.

Distribution and natural history of Myotis lavali (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae)

Abstract LaVals myotis (Myotis lavali) was recently described from the M. nigricans complex based on specimens from the Caatinga of northeastern Brazil. We present new distributional records for the Alto Chaco in Paraguay and for the Atlantic Forest of Brazil and Paraguay. These new records extend the distribution of the species approximately 2,000 km southwest and 400 km east, and document its co-occurrence with M. nigricans. Both results have taxonomic and ecological implications for M. lavali. Additionally, we provide comments on its natural history and reproduction. Resumo Myotis lavali Moratelli et al., 2011, foi recentemente descrita a partir do complexo M. nigricans com base em amostras da Caatinga do nordeste do Brasil. Assim como muitas espécies recém-descritas, seus limites de distribuição e sua biologia ainda são pouco conhecidos. Fornecemos novos registros de distribuição de M. lavali para o Alto Chaco no Paraguai e para a Mata Atlântica no Brasil e Paraguai. Esses registros ampliam a distribuição da espécie na América do Sul em aproximadamente 2,000 km para o sudoeste e 400 km para o leste, revelando ainda a sintopia de M. lavali e M. nigricans no Alto Chaco paraguaio. Esses resultados têm implicações taxonômicas e ecológicas para M. lavali. Fornecemos ainda comentários sobre a história natural e reprodução dessa espécie na Caatinga do nordeste do Brasil.

Morphometric and morphological variation in South American populations of Myotis albescens (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)

Myotis albescens (E. Geoffroy, 1806) occurs from Mexico to Uruguay and Argentina. Despite a large number of specimens in collections, its variability in South America has been underestimated, potentially leading to errors in identification. In order to clarify the taxonomic limits of M. albescens and to evaluate previous hypotheses of geographic variation in size we analyzed the type material and studied the variability in South American samples using multivariate exploratory and confirmatory procedures, as well as frequency analyses of discrete morphological data. The presence of a fringe of hairs along the trailing edge of the uropatagium, the long and silky pelage with frosted appearance on the dorsum, ear 9 to 14 mm long, broad interorbital and postorbital constrictions, and a globular braincase were identified as the most useful traits to distinguish M. albescens from its South American congeners. In agreement with Bergmans rule, larger specimens were found in the South. Beyond the geographic component, Individual variation is an important factor affecting the variability in the size and shape of the skull and pelage color.

Ecomorph Evolution in Myotis (Vespertilionidae, Chiroptera)

The genus Myotis is unique among mammals in its high taxonomic diversity and global distribution. Their phylogenetic relationships reflect biogeographic affinities rather than phenotypes. Myotis diverged from other bats in the early Miocene, with a subsequent split between Old and New World lineages about 19 million years ago. Similar ecomorphs (‘Leuconoe’ [near-water hunters], ‘Myotis’ [gleaners], ‘Selysius’ [aerial hawkers]) emerged independently in different lineages of Myotis. We retrieved the probable ancestral ecomorph for each lineage. Phenetic diversity was estimated from the analysis of body and skull traits. It seems that evolution of Myotis fluctuated between ‘Leuconoe’, ‘Selysius’, and larger ‘Myotis’.

Myotis simus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)

Abstract:  Myotis simus Thomas, 1901, is a vespertilionid bat commonly called the velvety myotis. A small to medium-sized bat with the plagiopatagium attached at ankles and short (≤5 mm), woolly fur, it is 1 of about 100 species of Myotis worldwide and 1 of 15 South American species of Myotis. It is endemic to South America, occurring from Colombia and northern Brazil southward to Paraguay and northeastern Argentina in both terra firme and floodplain areas in lowland forest and savanna at elevations from 28 to 600 m. It is not of special conservation concern.

Caribbean Myotis (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae), with description of a new species from Trinidad and Tobago

We describe a new species of Myotis (Vespertilionidae, Myotinae) from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Tobago Island. The new species (Myotis attenboroughi sp. nov.) can be distinguished from all other Neotropical congeners by cranial features and cytochrome-b gene sequences. Myotis attenboroughi sp. nov. is allied morphologically with species in the albescens group (like M. nigricans), and is sister to a clade including M. cf. handleyi, M. nesopolus, and 3 possibly undescribed species from Central and South America. A review of Myotis collections from the Caribbean confirms M. nyctor for Barbados and Grenada; M. dominicensis for Dominica and Guadeloupe; M. martiniquensis for Martinique; M. pilosatibialis and M. riparius for Trinidad; and M. attenboroughi for Tobago. The occurrence of M. attenboroughi on Trinidad is still an open question.

The identity of Myotis punensis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)

Currently twelve species of Myotis Kaup, 1829 (Vespertilionidae: Myotinae) are recognized from South America, with several other named taxa regarded as synonyms, among them Myotis punensis J.A. Allen, 1914. This name was first regarded as a junior synonym of Myotis albescens (E. Geoffroy, 1806) and subsequently of Myotis nigricans (Schinz, 1821). To address the taxonomic status of the holotype of M. punensis, we compared it to all South American species in the genus. The fringe of hairs on the trailing edge of the uropatagium, the fur color, and external and skull dimensions all suggest M. punensis should be treated as a junior synonym of M. albescens