Distributional and Taxonomic Notes on Some West Texas Bats

Chiropteran community structure and seasonal dynamics in Big Bend National Park

“…3). This conflicts with reports that they likely give birth in Mexico before arriving in Big Bend (Easterla 1973a;1973&). Wilson (1979) pro¬ posed that the breeding season occurs in April, May and June.…”

“…;Constantine, 1961;Easterla, 1968;1970;Higginbotham et al, 1999). Several spe¬ cies of bats known from Texas are unique to the Big Bend region in Texas; these include the Mexican longnosed bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) (Easterla, 1973a;19736;Mollhagen, 1973), the spotted bat {Euderma maculatum) (Easterla, 1970), and the pocketed freetailed bat (Nyctinomopsfemorosaccus) (Easterla, 1968;Higginbotham et al, in press).…”

“…It was ranked among the lowest in the relative abundance of bats during this investigation, comprising only 0.1% of captures (Tables 6 and 7). This species is listed as endangered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Schmidly, 1991), and has been captured in the United States only in BBNP and in the adjacent Chinati Mountains of Presidio County (Mollhagen, 1973), which represents the northern periphery of its known range (Hensley and Wilkins, 1988). The summer colony occupying Emory Peak Cave is the only known roosting colony of this species in the United States.…”

“…During six visits to Mt. Emory Cave (none of which were in June, near the end of breeding season), Easterla (1973a;1973&) observed no evidence of pregnancy or parturition in L. nivalis, and only older juveniles were encountered. The evidence presented here sug¬ gests that at least some L. nivalis may give birth in BBNP.…”

“…Twenty-nine indi¬ viduals were obtained at six sites in three vegetation zones (Tables 3, 4 and 5). Easterla (1973a;1973/? ) found relatively low numbers of this species in every plant habitat in BBNP, with the exception of the sotol grasslands.…”