First report of albinism in a lactating female of the chestnut long-tongued bat Lionycteris spurrelli Thomas, 1913 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae)

Abstract

Albinism is a genetic disorder that causes pigmentation anomalies. Even though supposedly rare in free-living mammals, cases of albinism have been reported worldwide, particularly in bats. In this article we present a new case of albinism in a Lionycteris spurrelli Thomas, 1913. The individual, observed in an Amazon region iron ore cave, in Northern Brazil, was a lactating female with a dark-brown pelage pup.

Registro de desorden cromático en Trachops cirrhosus (Spix, 1823) (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) en la Amazonia del Ecuador

“…The inter or intraspecific relationships of individuals with this chromatic disorder are considered to be unaffected of because it does not increase the risk of predation in juveniles stages, being possible to observe them in subadult or adulthood stages (Souza et al 2013, Tello et al 2014, Zalapa et al 2016, Hernández-Aguilar & Santos-Moreno 2018, Borloti et al 2019, Pereira et al 2022, or in individuals they have reached their reproductive stage, such as gravid or lactating females, and males with scrotal testicles (Hernández-Mijangos 2009, Sánchez-Hernández et al 2010, Marín-Vásquez et al 2010, García-Morales et al 2012, López-Wilchis & León 2012, Zalapa et al 2016, Biassi et al 2017, Aguilar-López et al 2021, Genelhú et al 2022. This hypothesis is supported by the specimens of Trachops cirrhosis reported in this study was a subadult individual.…”

“…Reports of hypopigmentary disorders in bats have been increasing for more than 20 years in the Neotropics (Uieda 2000, Lucati & López-Baucells 2016, Zalapa et al 2016, more frequently in the last decade (Souza et al 2013, Rocha et al 2013, Tello et al 2014, Romano et al 2015, Ruelas et al 2016, Zalapa et al 2016, Mejía-Quintanilla et al 2017, Biassi et al 2017, Nascimento et al 2018, Hernández-Aguilar & Santos-Moreno 2018, Zortéa & Silva 2018, Hernández-Canchola et al 2019, Borloti et al 2019, Aguilar-López et al 2021, Salas et al 2021, Aguilar-López et al 2021, Genelhú et al 2022, Santos-Moreno & Hernández-Aguilar 2022, Pereira et al 2022. Nevertheless, South American region presents an important bias in terms of reports of color disorders in bats, especially in the Amazon basin (Lucati & López-Baucells 2016).…”