First records of hypopigmentation disorders in the Peters’ ghost-faced bat Mormoops megalophylla (Chiroptera, Mormoopidae)

Abstract

The pigmentation process can be affected throughout development and result in aberrant pigmentation. This can derive not only from genetic mutations, but also from other sources like infectious diseases that result in color patterns which are different from those characteristic of each species. In bats, most pigmentation abnormalities have been observed in the families Phyllostomidae and Vespertilionidae, probably because they are the largest families in number of species and have been exceptionally well studied. For the Mormoopidae family only two cases are known. This paper documents the first case of hypopigmentation disorder in the bat Mormoops megalophylla throughout its range, recorded in two specimens captured in the state of Oaxaca, México.

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“…Chromatic disorders occur when abnormal pigmentation causes anomalous colouration of cells, which can occur on any part of the body (Rook et al 1998). This phenomena has been reported in a wide variety of mammal groups such as Rodentia (Jung & Slough 2012, Brito & Valdivieso-Bermeo 2016, Otariidae (Acevedo & Aguayo 2008, Wege et al 2015, Cetacea (Koper et al 2017) and Chiroptera (Cichocki et al 2017, Zortéa & Cristina Silva 2017, Hernández-Aguilar & Santos-Moreno 2018.…”

“…Hypopigmentation can disadvantage individuals by reducing reproduction while increasing susceptibility to predation (Caro 2005); however, documented cases of bats with chromatic disorders typically report healthy adult individuals (e.g. Sánchez-Nernández et al 2010, Hernández-Aguilar & Santos-Moreno 2018, and in some cases even pregnant individuals (Treitler et al 2013). The piebald N. arge that we captured was a normal sized adult and did not exhibit signs of poor health, supporting the notion that chromatic disorders may not be strongly detrimental to bats.…”

Records of chromatic disorder in Molossus molossus and Sturnira bakeri (Chiroptera) from western Ecuador

“…These chromatic disorders have been reported in individuals of the Phyllostomidae, Mormoopidae, Molossidae, and Vespertilionidae families from North and South America (Caire & Thies 1988, Geiger & Pacheco 2006, Hernández-Mijangos 2009, Idoeta et al 2011, García-Morales et al 2012, Ruelas et al 2016, Zortéa & Silva 2018, Hernández-Aguilar & Santos-Moreno 2018. For example, in South America, cases of these conditions have been reported in molossids in the genera Molossus, Eumops, Nyctinomops, and Tadarida in Peru (Tello et al 2014), Brazil (Veiga & Oliveira 1995, Sodré et al 2004, Geiger & Pacheco 2006, Nascimento et al 2018, Venezuela (Soriano et al 1993, Muñoz-Romo et al 2014, and Argentina (Romano et al 2015).…”

First record of anomalous coloration for Eptesicus taddeii (Vespertilionidae) in the Atlantic Forest, South Brazil

“…Cases of chromatic disorders have been reported in different groups of mammals in different regions of the world (Abreu et al, 2013;Lucati & López-Baucells, 2016;Mahabal et al, 2019;Velandia-Perilla et al, 2013). In bats, most cases of pigmentation disorders have been documented mainly in the families Vespertilionidae and Phyllostomidae (Lucati & López-Baucells, 2016;Velandia-Perilla et al, 2013;Zortéa & Silva, 2018), probably because they are the largest and best studied families (Hernández-Aguilar & Santos-Moreno, 2018). In Brazil there are cases of anomalous coloring for the families of Molossidae, Vespertilionidae and Phyllostomidae (Uieda, 2000;Geiger and Pacheco, 2006;Lucati and López-Baucells, 2016;Miranda et al, 2010;Rocha et al, 2013;Souza et al, 2013;Treitler et al, 2013) and these data are growing (Borloti et al, 2019).…”