First record of albinism for the doglike bat, Peropteryx kappleri Peters, 1867 (Chiroptera, Emballonuridae)

Abstract

Albinism is a type of deficient in melanin production could be the result of genetic anomalies that are manifest as the absence of coloration of part or the entire body of an organism. This type of chromatic disorder can affect several vertebrate species, but is rarely found in nature. Among bats, more than 450 cases of total or partial loss of body pigmentation have been reported. Herein we provide the first report of albinism for the bat species Peropteryxkappleri (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae) with two such specimens being observed from iron formation caves in a conservation unit “Floresta Nacional de Carajás”, Amazon forest, northern of Brazil.

First record of albinism in a mustached bat (Chiroptera, Mormoopidae) from South America

“…Albinism has been recorded in bats at least 160 times in 66 different species from ten families: Emballonuridae, Hipposideridae, Molossidae, Mormoopidae, Nycteridae, Phyllostomidae, Pteropodidae, Rhinolophidae, Rhinopomatidae, and Vespertilionidae (Lucati & López-Baucells 2016;Singh & Yadav 2016;da Rosa et al 2017;Zortéa & Silva 2017;Calderón-Álvarez & Marin-Vasquez 2018;do Nascimento et al 2018;Bernardi et al 2019;Moreno et al 2020;Ventorin et al 2021). Regarding Mormoopidae, which comprises 18 species, all of them with insectivorous diets (Pavan 2019), there is a single known case of albinism for the species Pteronotus parnellii (Gray, 1843) in Mexico (Sánchez-Hernández et al 1989).…”

“…Our record represents the first case of albinism in a mormoopid bat from South America, and the fourth known case of pigmentation disorder in this family worldwide (see Lucati & López-Baucells 2016). In South America, albinism had been observed in species from families Emballonuridae, Molossidae, Phyllostomidae, and Vespertilionidae (Lucati & López-Baucells 2016;da Rosa et al 2017;Zortéa & Silva 2017;Calderón-Álvarez & Marin-Vasquez 2018;do Nascimento et al 2018;Bernardi et al 2019). Most of the cases of albinism and other pigmentation disorders have been observed in closed habitats used for roosting, such as caves and mines (Uieda 2000;Lucati & López-Baucells 2016), with only three records of albinism in open roosts (Ventorin et al 2021).…”