Bats of Saint Vincent, Lesser Antilles

Abstract

The chiropteran fauna of the island of Saint Vincent, represented by 12 species, is among the most complex in the Lesser Antilles, being represented by four families including Noctilionidae (1 species), Mormoopidae (1), Phyllostomidae (8), and Molossidae (2). This fauna includes four trophic guilds as represented by Noctilio leporinus (piscivore/insectivore); Glossophaga longirostris and Monophyllusplethodon (nectarivore/pollenivore); Artibeus lituratus,A. schwartzi, Brachyphylla cavernarum, Ardops nichollsi, mdSturnira paulsoni (frugivore); and Pteronotusfuscus, Micronycteris buriri, Molossus molossus, and Tadarida brasiliensis (insectivore). One species-Micronyc¬ teris buriri-and two subspecies-Sturnira paulsoni paulsoni and Ardops nichollsi vincentensis-are endemic to the island. Recent advancements in population genomics have led to the discovery of the reticulated evolutionary history of Artibeus schwartzi and it is likely that the formation of the hybrid evolutionary trajectory of this species is linked with classical island biogeography. The bat fauna of St. Vincent is unique in the West Indies, characterized by being a crossroads for species, an outpost for both northern and southern species, the boundary for a multi-island bat fauna as marked by Koopman's Line, and a site of endemism. Based on our studies, we place the bat fauna of St. Vincent as the southern-most island in the Lesser Antillean Faunal Core.

Alopecia in Bats: A Case Study of Four Species from Mexico

“…Since 60% of P. mesoamericanus females with alopecia were lactating, alopecia is most likely associated with the reproductive status, as has been reported in other bat species, such as B. cavernarum (Pedersen et al, 2012), Myotis dasycneme (Haarsma and van Alphen, 2009), A. lituratus (da Silva et al ., 2010), A. jamaicensis (Genoways et al ., 2012), and Glossophaga longirostris (Kwiecinski et al ., 2018). The other bats may have been in early gestation and, therefore, no obvious reproductive activity was detected.…”