A new species of Lonchophylla (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from the eastern Andes of northwestern South America

Abstract

Since 2004 five new species have been described in the nectar-feeding phyllostomid bat genus Lonchophylla. All the new species are endemic to one Neotropical ecoregion, suggesting that more species remain to be discovered among collected specimens currently referred to several widespread taxa. Herein we describe a new species, Lonchophylla orienticollina, endemic to the middle elevations of the eastern Andes of Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. The new species superficially resembles its sympatric congener L. robusta, but its cranial morphology and combination of measurements are distinctive. Throughout its range, L. orienticollina is sympatric with L. robusta, and it also overlaps with L. handleyi in the Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador. The evolutionary processes leading to the divergence among Lonchophylla species, as well as the ecological mechanisms that enable multiple, subtly different species to coexist will remain obscure without new field and phylogenetic studies.

Preliminary inventory of mammals from Yurubí National Park, Yaracuy, Venezuela with some comments on their natural history.

“…Later, Ochoa & Aguilera (2003) reported 351 species in 13 orders and 43 families and this number has increased in recent years thanks to taxonomic contributions and new descriptions (e.g., Anderson 2003, Lew & Pérez-Hernández 2004, Sánchez et al 2005, Lew et al 2006, Weskler et al 2006, Molinari 2007, Gutiérrez & Molinari 2008. The current checklist based on Wilson & Reeder (2005) and supported with additional publications (e.g., Gardner 2008, Dávalos & Corthals 2008, Gutiérrez & Molinari 2008, Ochoa et al 2008, Anderson & Gutiérrez 2009 increases the number to 383 species into 14 orders and 47 families with 25 endemic species in six orders: Didelphimorphia, Carnivora, Lagomorpha, Soricomorpha, Chiroptera, Artiodactyla and Rodentia (Linares 1998, Ochoa & Aguilera 2003, Wilson & Reeder 2005, Lew et al 2006, Molinari 2007, Gardner 2008, Gutiérrez & Molinari 2008, Anderson & Gutiérrez 2009, Helgen et al 2009.…”

Emended diagnosis of Xeronycteris vieirai (Mammalia: Chiroptera), with the first record of polyodontia for the genus

“…The description of the external morphology (based on the new specimen and the type series): body size medium for the subfamily (mean forearm length from four females 37.15 mm; lonchophyllines ranging from 31-50 mm; KOOPMAN 1994, WOODMAN & TIMM 2006, DÁVALOS & CORTHALS 2008; muzzle greatly elongated with lower jaw longer than the upper; noseleaf spear prominent (ALP 6824: 4.5 mm in width and 6.17 mm in height) and with central rib absent or slightly developed; base of noseleaf spear, at internarinal region, inserted behind upper limit of horseshoe; lower border of horseshoe entirely fused to face, with no free edge associated with upper lip; two distinct dermal pads present just posterior to noseleaf, one on each side of snout; five vibrissae present on each of these pads, two closer to mid-dorsal part of snout, two on middle of pad, and one at base, just posterior to lateral part of horseshoe; genal vibrissae (ventral and/or posterior to the eye) absent; three vibrissae present in interramal region (between the rami of the lower jaws); lower lip with pair of simple dermal pads, not scalloped at edges and almost as strait in middle as in lateral portions; lower lip dermal pads partially fused to each other at midline of chin; relatively slight cleft present in midline of chin posterior to lower lip dermal pads; ears relatively large, rounded at inner margin and tips, and concave at outer margin; tragus about one third of ear length, spatula-shaped, noticeably ticker close to inner margin and without ornamentation, and outer margin marked by lateral, folded back expansion at basal one-third of length of tragus; plagiopatagium inserts distally at ankle; uropatagium relatively long, but shorter in midline producing an arched outline in distal border (between calcars) when tibias arranged in parallel and membrane gently stretched; tail relatively short with tip (ca. 1 mm) protruding from dorsal surface of uropatagium; foot longer than calcar; thumb relatively short and densely furred at base; body pelage extending until proximal two-thirds of arm length (forearm is naked) and until base of thighs; ventral surface with uniformly pale brown hairs, frosted at tips, and measuring approximately 5 mm in length; region above shoulders and at both sides of neck covered by hairs, hairs approximately 7 mm in length and bicolored (creamwhite at two-thirds basal and toffee brown at tips); dorsal hairs variable in size (from 5 mm in upper back, at level of plagiopatagium insertion, to approximately 7 mm at lateral lower back); dorsal hairs slightly tricolored (cream-white in a basal narrow stripe, pale brown in middle, and darker brown distally), with external layer frosted at tips.…”

“…Eighteen species are currently recognized within Lonchophyllinae, three of which belong to the monotypic Lionycteris Thomas, 1913, Platalina Thomas, 1928, and Xeronycteris Gregorin & Ditchfield, 2005(GRIFFITHS & GARDNER 2008, and all others to Lonchophylla Thomas, 1903(WOODMAN 2007, DÁVALOS & CORTHALS 2008, DIAS et al 2013. While most lonchophyllines occur in rainforest habitats, some species have been found only in drier environments (GRIFFITHS & GARDNER 2008).…”

Small Mammals of the Mayo River Basin in Northern Peru, with the Description of a New Species of Sturnira (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

“…Identification: Descriptions and measure¬ ments of Lonchophylla handleyi have been pro¬ vided by Gardner (1976), Bowles et al (1979), Hill (1980), Solari et al (1999), Davalos (2004), Woodman and Timm (2006), Woodman (2007), Davalos and Corthals (2008), and Mantilla-Meluk et al (2010). No subspecies are currently recog¬ nized in L. handleyi (Griffiths and Gardner, 2008b).…”