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The family Phyllostomidae is a monophyletic clade of Neotropical bats with diverse feeding strategies including sanguivory (subfamily Desmodontinae). The fossil record in open sites of South Americ...

There is little known about the bats of the Brazilian restinga as most studies have concentrated on the country’s south and southeast regions. In Sergipe, Northeastern Brazil, the only study previously carried out registered 17 species in different restinga habitats. Thus, this study aimed to characterize the bat community in a restinga area in Sergipe and update the list of species that occur in the area. The study was carried out in the Caju Private Natural Heritage Reserve, on the south coast of the state of Sergipe. Monthly campaigns were carried out from October 2016 to September 2017 over two consecutive nights and alternating between two sites to capture the bats. We captured Bats using 10 mist nets that remained open between 6:00 p.m. and 12:00 p.m. We determined the abundance and trophic guilds of the captured species. In addition, we obtained the occurrence frequency degree through the Constancy Index. We captured 457 individuals distributed over 13 species and two families, where three species represented a new record for the locality. The family Phyllostomidae was the richest and most abundant. Most species were frugivorous (61.5%). According to the Constancy Index, only four species were considered common. Using Jackknife 1 estimator, we estimated 14.83 species for the area, indicating that the richness obtained in this study corresponds to 87.6% of this estimate. This study resulted in an 17.6% increase in bat richness known for the area. The high representativeness of the Phyllostomidae family may be related to the capture method used. The predominance of frugivores bats in this study may be associated with the presence of many fruit trees in the area. The low occurrence of species considered common is often reported and can be explained by the species’ trophic specializations and by the sampling methods. Considering the scarcity of studies in restinga areas in Northeastern Brazil, this work becomes important for the knowledge of the bats in this environment, especially for Sergipe.

Verificou-se a frequência de enteroparasitos em morcegos pertencentes a cinco espécies da família Phyllostomidae capturados em três diferentes áreas de estudo, localizadas na Vila do Tinguá situada no extremo nordeste do Município de Nova Iguaçu e nos limites sul da Reserva Biológica do Tinguá, no Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil nos meses de abril e julho de 2012. Cada amostra fecal foi analisada individualmente e processada pela técnica de centrifugo-flutuação em solução de sacarose, com algumas modificações. Das 33 amostras analisadas não se observou ovos ou cistos de enteroparasitos. Este é o primeiro estudo para pesquisa da fauna enteroparasitária em morcegos utilizando a técnica de centrifugo-flutuação, que utiliza apenas as fezes e assegura a manutenção do hospedeiro na natureza, com o objetivo de ampliar o conhecimento para a região, uma vez que todos os levantamentos são baseados em coleta de material de necropsia.

The leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) are outliers among chiropterans with respect to the unusually high diversity of dietary strategies within the family. Salivary glands, owing to their functions and high ultrastructural variability among lineages, are proposed to have played an important role during the phyllostomid radiation. Salivary gland secretory products directly interact with food materials and pathogens which can provide selective interactions. To identify genes underlying salivary gland functional diversification, we sequenced submandibular gland transcriptomes from phyllostomid species representative of divergent dietary strategies. From the assembled transcriptomes, we identified and tested 3,266 single gene orthologs and identified 57 evolving under positive selection. All enriched gene ontology terms were related to defense against other organisms and the cell membrane/extracellular environment. Based on GO annotation, many of the defense-related loci under selection form secretory products. Salivary glands perform a complex array of tasks, and we identified positive selection on additional proteins bound to membranes and in the extracellular environment with multiple functions. Although illuminating exact function is difficult, results suggest that regulatory release of secretory products, not the products themselves, is disproportionately shaped by positive selection on coding sequence. Identified instances of selection on such cellular components may help explain the ultrastructural variability of salivary glands previously documented.

RESUMEN. El objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar la estructura y composicion de los ensamblajes de murcielagos en los alrededores de la Estacion Meteorologica Primates (Coloso) y finca “La Flojera” (Sincelejo), en el departamento de Sucre, Colombia; desde junio de 2011 hasta marzo de 2012. La captura de los murcielagos se realizo con redes de niebla, activas entre las 18:00 a 24:00 h. Se capturaron 427 murcielagos pertenecientes a 26 especies, 17 generos, seis subfamilias y cuatro familias taxonomicas. La familia Phyllostomidae fue la de mayor diversidad, con 20 especies y el 97.9% de todos los individuos capturados. Artibeus planirostris fue la especie mas abundante con 139 individuos, luego Phyllostomus discolor con 56, Desmodus rotundus y Sturnira lilium, ambas con 37 individuos. De acuerdo con los estimadores de riqueza utilizados, la eficiencia del muestreo oscilo entre un 80 y 90%. Al considerar las categorias troficas, los murcielagos frugivoros presentaron la mayor riqueza de especies (42.3%). El valor de diversidad de Shannon-Wiener (H’) obtenido para la zona 1 (Coloso) fue de 2.4 y para la zona 2 (Sincelejo), de 2.0. La dominancia presento su mayor valor (0.85) en la estacion Primates. El analisis de similitud entre comunidades a traves del indice cualitativo de Jaccard fue de 0.53. Las diferencias encontradas en ambas zonas pueden estar asociadas a las diferencias en la vegetacion. ABSTRACT. The objective of this study was to determine the structure and composition of two bat assemblages around the weather station Primates and “La Flojera” farm, in the department of Sucre, Colombia, from June 2011 to March 2012. The capture of bats was performed using mist nets, active from 18:00 to 24:00 h. We captured 427 bats belonging to 26 species, 17 genera, 6 subfamilies and 4 families. The family Phyllostomidae was the most diverse with 20 species. Of all caught individuals 97.9% belonged to the Phyllostomidae family . Artibeus planirostris was the most abundant with 139 individuals followed by, in decreasing order, Phyllostomus discolor with 56, Desmodus rotundus and Sturnira lilium with 37 individuals. According to the estimates of richness the sampling efficiency ranged between 80 and 90%. The most common trophic guild was the frugivorous guild (42.3%). The Shannon-Wiener diversity index was 2.40 in Primates and 2.0 in “La Flojera” farm. The species dominance was the highest (85%) in Primates Station. The similarity between the bat communities based on the index of Jaccard was 0.53. The differences found between the two bats communities can be related to differences in vegetation type at each locality.

The RPPN Carnijó (08° 07’ 07” S, 35° 05’ 32” N) is a 25 hectare fragment of Atlantic Forest located in the municipality of Moreno, Pernambuco. Bats were sampled at this site during a total of 19 months between 2006 and 2008. Four mist-nets were set for six hours each night along trails, the forest edge, natural clearings, and over watercourses, while roosts were located during daytime searches. A total of 518 specimens were captured during 43 nights, representing 20 species in 16 genera. Total species richness was estimated to be 25.7 ± 2.0, and diversity was H’ = 2.07. The family Phyllostomidae predominated, with 98% (N = 509) of the specimens captured. The species recorded represent 28% of the known chiropteran fauna of the state of Pernambuco. The results indicate that the reserve may play a fundamentally important role in the maintenance of local biodiversity by acting as a “stepping stone” linking the larger fragments within the local landscape.

The olfactory recess (OR) is a restricted space at the back of the nasal fossa in many mammals that is thought to improve olfactory function. Mammals that have an olfactory recess are usually described as keen-scented, while those that do not are typically thought of as less reliant on olfaction. However, the presence of an olfactory recess is not a binary trait. Many mammal families have members that vary substantially in the size and complexity of the olfactory recess. There is also variation in the amount of olfactory epithelium (OE) that is housed in the olfactory recess. Among New World leaf-nosed bats (family Phyllostomidae), species vary by over an order of magnitude in how much of their total OE lies within the OR. Does this variation relate to previously documented neuroanatomical proxies for olfactory reliance? Using data from 12 species of phyllostomid bats, we addressed the hypothesis that the amount of OE within the OR relates to a species' dependence on olfaction, as measured by two commonly used neuroanatomical metrics, the size of the olfactory bulb, and the number of glomeruli in the olfactory bulb, which are the first processing units within the olfactory signal cascade. We found that the percentage of OE within the OR does not relate to either measure of olfactory “ability.” This suggests that olfactory reliance is not reflected in the size of the olfactory recess. We explore other roles that the olfactory recess may play. Anat Rec, 297:2105–2112, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The present work provides information about bats diversity in the lower basin of Rio Verde, in Oaxaca State, Mexico. The sampling was performed from August 2009 to July 2010 in four sites of the study area. We caught 810 individuals, from 17 species arranged in 13 genera and 4 families, with an important representation of the family Phyllostomidae. The fitting of asymptotic cumulative species model showed that in one sampling site asymptote is reached while in the restant sampling sites there are still some species that remain to be recorded. The rank-abundance curves show the genus Artibeus members as the most abundant and dominant in the sampling sites except El Corral. We consider important the need of generate more studies on structure, population dynamics and community ecology to understand clearly the importance of this group in the region. Key words: abundance, bats, diversity, lower basin, Phyllostomidae.

New World leaf-nosed bats (Family Phyllostomidae) display incredible craniofacial diversity that is associated with their broad range of dietary preferences. The short and broad palates of highly frugivorous bats are functionally linked to high bite forces, and the long and narrow palates of nectarivorous bats to flower feeding. Although the functional correlates and evolutionary history of shape variation in phyllostomid palates are beginning to be understood, the specific developmental processes that govern palate diversification remain unknown. To begin to resolve this issue, this study quantified palate morphology in seven phyllostomid species from a range of developmental stages and in adults. This sample includes species with short and broad, long and narrow, and intermediate palate shapes, and thereby covers the range of palate shapes displayed by phyllostomids. Results indicate that while initial palate shape (i.e., width vs. length) varies among species, the pattern of this variation does not match that observed in adults. In contrast, the relative growth of palate width and length in developing phyllostomids and the ratio of these axes in adults are significantly correlated. These and other results suggest that evolutionary alterations in patterns of palate growth have governed the diversification of palate shapes in adult phyllostomids. This implies that the diverse palate shapes of phyllostomids are the result of relatively subtle evolutionary changes in later rather than earlier development events.

Bat flies were surveyed between March, 2007 and February, 2008, in the Carnijó Private Natural Heritage Reserve (08° 07′ S and 35° 05′ W), an area of Atlantic Rainforest in the municipality of Moreno, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. Bats were captured biweekly using mist nets set during six hours each night. The ectoparasites were collected with tweezers and/or a brush wet in ethanol and stored in 70% ethanol. The specimens are deposited in the zoological reference collection of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul. Sixteen species of streblid bat flies were collected from 10 bat species of the family Phyllostomidae. Thirteen of the these streblid species were recorded for the first time in Pernambuco.

Bats of the family Phyllostomidae are common hosts to streblids known as bat flies. Here, we discuss the component community, prevalence and intensity of infection with species of Streblidae on an assemblage of phyllostomid bats in the Cafuringa Environmental Protection Area (APA Cafuringa) in the core area of the Cerrado in Central Brazil. A total of 1 841 streblid individuals of 24 species occurred on 752 bats of 14 species. Ten species of streblids infected Glossophaga soricina (Pallas), whereas seven or fewer streblid species infected the other bat species. Nine bat fly species presented a prevalence of more than 50%, whereas some differences in the abundance of bat flies among hosts were observed. Strebla wiedemanni Kolenati, 1856 and Trichobius furmani Wenzel, 1966 were more host-specific compared to the other streblids, and they occurred in greater abundance on their preferred hosts. Trichobius uniformis Curran, 1935 and Strebla mirabilis (Waterhouse, 1879) were the least host-specific, occurring on five and six hosts, respectively.

An embryonic staging system for Molossus rufus (also widely known as Molossus ater) was devised using 17 reference specimens obtained during the postimplantation period of pregnancy from wild-caught, captive-bred females. This was done in part by comparing the embryos to a developmental staging system that had been created for another, relatively unrelated bat, Carollia perspicillata (family Phyllostomidae). Particular attention was paid to the development of species-specific features, such as wing and ear morphology, and these are discussed in light of the adaptive significance of these structures in the adult. M. rufus can be maintained and bred in captivity and is relatively abundant in the wild. This embryonic staging system will facilitate further developmental studies of M. rufus, a model species for one of the largest and most successful chiropteran families, the Molossidae. Anat Rec, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Two new species of yellow-shouldered bats Sturnira Gray, 1842 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) from Central America and western South America are described using molecular and morphological data. The two new species, which occur in Costa Rica and Panama and in western Ecuador, were previously confused with S. ludovici, and S. lilium and S. luisi, respectively. Sturnira now includes 22 described species, making it the most speciose genus in the Neotropical family Phyllostomidae.

This study reports the presence of 30 species of bats collected at different altitudes in the north of Antioquia Department, Colombia. The species captured belong to five families, six subfamilies and 18 genera. All listed pertain to the suborder Microchiroptera, order Chiroptera and the mayority to the family Phyllostomidae. The most abundant species were Artibeus lituratus, Carollia perspicillata and Molossus molossus. Six tipes of diets were catalogued for the captured specimens. Most abundant were fruit eaters, followed by insectivorous and nectivorous bats. Very few fish eaters, carnivors or omnivors were found. No vampires were captured, although their presence was noted in the typical bite marks seen on cows and horses of the region.

One of the major goals of evolutionary biology is to explain phenotypic diversity and understand the limits imposed by those phenotypes. The cranial morphology of the wrinkle-faced bat Centurio senex (Family Phyllostomidae) is bizarre and enigmatic. Its extremely short and wide skull consistently emerges as an outlier in morphological studies and many researchers have speculated about its function. Here, we investigate the hypothesis that the unique skull morphology of Centurio is associated with the ability to generate high bite forces and/or high bite forces at wide gapes. We accomplish this by comparing bite force data gathered in the field and estimates of gape limitations gathered from museum specimens. We also examine the possibility that Centurio uses unique feeding behaviors that may impose unique loading regimes on the facial skeleton. We found that relative to head size, Centurio generates the strongest bites known for any fruit-eating phyllostomid bat, but that its ability to generate high bite forces at wide gape angles is likely limited. We also propose that its exceptionally strong bite indicates the ability to consume hard food items when other resources are limited, and that these ‘resource bottlenecks’ may have imposed strong selective pressure on its skull morphology. Behavioral data indicate that Centurio exhibits a unique reliance on unilateral biting (loading) during feeding. Based on data summarizing bite force, estimates of gape ability and feeding behavior, we suggest that Centurio’s exceptionally short and wide skull reflects adaptations for high bite forces and repeated unilateral loading of the facial skeleton during feeding.

Made available in DSpace on 2021-07-14T10:30:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2005-03. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2021-07-14T11:31:50Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 S1678-91992005000100010.pdf: 30079 bytes, checksum: 0e1e1898cff3b2645319bf1d5116e023 (MD5) Rabies is a viral disease of mammals transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. A frugivorous adult male bat, Artibeus lituratus, family Phyllostomidae, was diagnosed as positive to rabies by direct immunofluorescence (DIF) and mouse inoculation test (MIT) of the bat's brain, both performed at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry - FMVZ, UNESP, Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil. The animal collided with the window of a commercial establishment in the urban area during the day. With regard to DIF, a high amount of Negri bodies of several sizes was observed in the brain. The spleen and right kidney presented some Negri bodies too. In relation to MIT, the mice presented paralysis in the 7th day, and died in the day after with several characteristic small bodies. The reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), followed by hemi-nested RT-PCR (hnRT-PCR) resulted in an amplification of fragments from the bat's brain viral RNA, 432bp in RT-PCR, and 274bp in hnRT-PCR, confirming the diagnosis. Therefore, the hnRT-PCR and DIF have good sensitivity and specificity, providing and confirming the diagnosis of the clinical samples in a short period of time. Universidade Estadual Paulista, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry Universidade Estadual Paulista, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry

The extreme length of this bat's tongue might have coevolved with the long flowers it pollinates. Bats of the subfamily Glossophaginae (family Phyllostomidae) are arguably the most specialized of mammalian nectarivores, and hundreds of neotropical plants rely on them for pollination1,2. But flowers pollinated by bats are not known to specialize for bat subgroups (unlike flowers that have adapted to the length and curvature of hummingbird bills, for example), possibly because the mouthparts of bats do not vary much compared with the bills of birds or the probosces of insects3,4. Here I report a spectacular exception: a recently-described nectar bat that can extend its tongue twice as far as those of related bats and is the sole pollinator of a plant with corolla tubes of matching length.

Wrinkled-faced bat, Centurio senex , belong to the family Phyllostomidae, are small to medium size, color variable but usually yellowish brown, each presenting a shoulder patch of white hair in the wing membrane areas have translucent skin, usually perches under the leaves on trees to the weather. Centurio senex is distributed throughout in the Neotropics, in evergreen forests, rain forests, and in lowland deciduous. On December 8, 2002 was a Centurio senex specimen was found in the municipality of Nezahualcoyotl, Col. Bosques de Aragon, Mexico State. Was found dead, raising a eucalyptus tree ( Eucalyptus sp.) We report here the presence of C. senex in the State of Mexico, this record is completely atypical, since these fruit bats live in tropical forest, and was probably brought to the area in a fruit cargo from a tropical region. KEY WORDS: Centurio senex , distribution, Estado de Mexico, record. PALABRAS CLAVE: Centurio senex , distribucion, Estado de Mexico, registro.

Andira contains approximately 30 species of trees and shrubs distributed throughout tropical America, with one in Africa. It is characterised by unusual drupaceous fruits and is one of the few genera of papilionoid legumes with fleshy fruits dispersed by vertebrates (Janzen, 1981). The majority of Andira species (such as A. cordata, described here) have fruit which rarely exceed 6 cm in length, are green or occasionally yellow when ripe, have a strong, sweet scent and a fibrous mesocarp. These fruit are dispersed by bats of the family Phyllostomidae Uanzen et al., 1976), probably of subfamilies Stenodermatinae and Phyllostominae, because these are the only neotropical fruit bats that are large enough to carry fruits of the size and weight of those of Andira (Emmons, 1990). Some of these bat-dispersed species such as A. inermis (W. Wright) DC, A. surinamensis (Bondt) Splitg. ex Pulle and A. anthelmia (Vell.) J. F. MacBr., may also be dispersed by water because they are often associated with riparian or lacustrine habitats. Other species of Andira (such as A. carvalhoi, described here) possess fruits that reach 12 cm in length, and weigh as much as 350 g (R. T. Pennington, unpublished data). This exceeds the 100 g estimated maximum weight that the largest neotropical fruit bats can carry (Fleming, 1986). These large fruits lack the strongly scented, fibrous mesocarp characteristic of the bat-dispersed fruits and they possess the "dry, large seeded, nut-like, green or brown, dehiscent or indehiscent" morphology described by van Roosemalen (1985: XVII) as characteristic of fruits dispersed by large rodents such as agouti (Dasyprocta spp.) and acouchy (Myoprocta spp.). Therefore, it appears likely that large Andira fruits are distributed by large rodents, which are important dispersers of large fruits in the neotropics (Emmons, 1990). However, their dispersal has never been directly observed.

Mist netting bats at 11 sites in the vicinity of Akumal, Mexico between 7 and 19 January 1991 produced 363 bats representing 20 species. A comparison of captures revealed significant differences in species diversity (H s ) between disturbed and undisturbed sites (as reflected by deforestation). Species in the subfamily Phyllostominae (family Phyllostomidae) were captured significantly more often at forested than deforested sites and thus appeared to be useful indicators of habitat disruption. The low intensity echolocation calls of phyllostomid bats make it unfeasible to monitor their distribution and abundance with bat detectors

Paratrichobius americanusnew species is described and illustrated from specimens collected in Arizona, from the host batChoeronycteris mexicanaTschudi It is most closely related to theP.longicrus(Miranda Ribeiro) complex of species, but is easily differentiated from all the known species by details of the chaetotaxy of the profemur, mesonotum and gonapophyses, and by the small eyes. This is the first species of the genus to be recorded from the bat subfamily Glossophaginae, all others are known only from the Stenoderminae (family Phyllostomidae).

Karyological examination of 26 species of bats from the family Phyllostomidae revealed two Y chromosomes (XY1Y2) in six species involving three genera. All females are of the XX constitution. Meiotic studies demonstrate the origin of the additional Y in Carollia to be the homolog of an autosome translocated to the X element. The origin of an additional Y in Artibeus is best explained as a separate event. In one species of Artibeus (A. turpis) a centric fusion of the two Y elements is emphatically suggested.

Most insectivorous bat species in the Neotropical family Phyllostomidae glean insects from ground, water or vegetation surfaces. They use similar and stereotypical echolocation calls that are generally very short (less than 1–3 ms), multi-harmonic and frequency-modulated (FM). By contrast, the common sword-nosed bat,Lonchorhina aurita, which has the longest noseleaf in the entire phyllostomid family, produces distinctly different echolocation calls. They are composed of a constant frequency (CF) component with a peak frequency of 45 kHz, followed by a short FM down-sweep at the end. With a mean call duration of 6.6 ms (max. 8.7 ms) when flying in the open they have the longest echolocation calls reported from phyllostomid bats. In cluttered environments, the CF-component is very short. In open habitats, however,L. auritacan emit pure CF-calls without the terminal FM-component. We also recorded in the field a distinct terminal group that closely resembles the feeding buzzes of aerial hawking bat species from other bat families. This is the first time the echolocation call design ofL. auritais presented. In addition, we contrast the echolocation behaviour of individuals flying in open and confined situations. Our results suggest that the unique echolocation system ofL. auritarepresents an adaptation to aerial hawking, a very unusual hunting mode within the phyllostomid family.

The following is a summarization of a more detailed though preliminary study which is part of the Anti-Rabies Program currently being conducted by the Department of Agriculture of Trinidad and Tobago. It is published with the approval of the Director of Agriculture. Trinidad fruit bats belong to the family Phyllostomidae and the food preferences of the three commonest species have …