Molossid unlimited: extraordinary extension of range and unusual vocalization patterns of the bat, Promops centralis

Abstract

The big crested mastiff bat, Promops centralis, occurs in Central and South America, but knowledge of its ecology is limited due to its open space hunting strategy, making captures extremely challenging. Notwithstanding, members of the species produce echolocation calls that are easy to identify. After recording calls of P. centralis 1,500 km away from its known range in Brazil, we hypothesized that the distribution range of this species was probably greatly underestimated. To improve the accuracy of P. centralis’ real distribution, we employed acoustic surveys throughout parts of Brazil, conducted after a bibliographic review to gather additional records, and used MaxEnt to model the species’ potential distribution. We have found that P. centralis has a much wider distribution in South America than previously thought, adding more than 3.8 million km2 to its former known area. We also describe an unusual vocalization pattern of P. centralis, with individuals emitting at least three very distinct but highly variable calls. This study shows that bioacoustic surveys and species distribution models can complement traditional methodologies in studying species that are difficult to capture, such as P. centralis, potentially contributing to more effective conservation and management plans.

Second capture of Promops centralis (Chiroptera) in French Guiana after 28 years of mist-netting and description of its echolocation and distress calls

“…As a result, natural history data for these species are generally scarce or virtually missing in the literature. Among molossids, the big crested mastiff bat, Promops centralis is one of the most elusive and less studied species (Hintze et al 2019). As many other molossids, P. centralis seems to be a habitat-opportunist, having been reported in a wide range of environments such as forests, wetlands, deserts, and urban areas (Gregorin and Taddei 2000;Lim and Engstrom 2001;Kalko 2010, 2011;Fischer et al 2015;González-Terrazas et al 2016;Hintze et al 2019).…”

Acoustic records of Promops centralis (Thomas, 1915) (Chiroptera, Molossidae) in corn agroecosystems of northwestern Mexico

“…Our records of Promops centralis are based on acoustic recording derivatives we extracted from our effort to describe insectivorous bat communities in Sinaloa and southern Sonora (Fig. 3), similar to what Hintze et al (2019) performed when documenting the species range extension in northern Brazil. Our work provides clear evidence that corroborates a wider distribution of P. centralis in northwestern Mexico.…”

“…The distribution of Big Crested Mastiff Bat, Promops centralis (Thomas, 1915) (Molossidae), ranges from Mexico to northern Argentina (Watkins et al 1972;Birney et al 1974;Eisenberg 1989;Hall 1981;Urbano-Vidales et al 1987;Sánchez-Cordero et al 1993;Rojas-Martínez and Valiente-Banuet 1996;Arita 1997;Simmons and Voss 1998;Vidal and Martínez 2000;Simmons 2005;Ceballos et al 2006;Eger 2008;Medellín et al 2008;Sánchez and Magaña-Cota 2008;Pacheco et al 2009; González and Arroyo-Cabrales 2013; González-Terrazas et al 2016;Solari 2019). Despite its widespread distribution, P. centralis feeding and habitat preferences, flight patterns and roosting behavior are poorly understood making this species difficult to record (Hintze et al 2019). There are few records of P. centralis and is considered an uncommon species (Ceballos and Miranda 2000).…”

Bat assemblage at a high diversity locality in the Atlantic Forest

“…This pattern is explained by two factors: the wide distribution and high number of species, and especially by sampling bias due to using mist nets at ground level (Fleming 1986;Fenton et al 1992). Employment of mist nets at canopy level and bioacoustics survey are recommended for a more effective sampling of aerial insectivore bats, such as the Emballonuridae, Molossidae and Vespertilionidae (Carvalho et al 2013;Marques et al 2016;Gregorin et al 2017;Hintze et al 2020).…”