New species of Histiotus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Histiotus are vespertilionid bats endemic to South America, easily recognized by its very long ears. During a twelve-month bat inventory in northeastern Brazil, eleven specimens of Histiotus were collected with a unique combination of characters that did not match those of any known species. In this paper, we describe these specimens as a new species. Histiotus sp. nov is distinguished from its congeners by its pale transparent wings and translucent ears, a triangular-shaped ear with a prominent lobe in the inner border connected by a band (~4 mm) across the forehead; its general golden-brownish body color and well-marked bicolor dorsal hairs. Its geographic distribution is unique among vespertilionids, arranged in a northeast-southwest diagonal across South America, includes the Caatinga and Cerrado of Brazil and Chaco of Bolivia. The available data suggest a seasonal reproductive pattern, with births occurring in the mid to late rainy season.

Bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera) from an area of Caatinga in southwestern Bahia, Brazil

“…Chiroptera is the second largest mammalian order, with 182 species known to occur in Brazil, representing nine families (Nogueira et al 2014;Feijó et al 2015a;Moratelli & Dias 2015;Rocha et al 2015Rocha et al , 2018Gregorin et al 2016). In addition to their high taxonomic diversity (Simmons 2005), bats have an exceptionally wide range of diets and ecological niches (Kalko 1998), and play a vital role in the ecosystem and the maintenance of natural environments (Peracchi et al 2011).…”

Bats of Alagoa Grande, a semi-arid area of Northeastern Brazil

“…So far, 59 species from eight families are known to occur in the state of Paraíba (Feijó and Langguth, 2011;Ferreira et al, 2013;Nunes et al, 2013;Vilar et al, 2015;Beltrão et al, 2015;Feijó et al, 2015a), but most studies are concentrated in the Atlantic Forest biome. The Caatinga remains poorly sampled (Feijó and Langguth, 2011;Feijó et al, 2016).…”

“…It has a long story of scientific negligence (Santos et al, 2011) that has only started to be well-addressed recently. In the last 14 years, the bat richness known from the Caatinga has increased in 20%, currently with 81 species (Oliveira et al, 2003;Paglia et al, 2012;Moratelli and Dias, 2015;Rocha et al, 2015;Feijó et al, 2015a;Feijó et al, 2015b). Recent studies have shown that Caatinga areas can maintain bat assemblages with similar levels of diversity to the moist tropical areas, which highlights the importance to expand the network of protected areas in this threatened biome (Beltrão et al, 2015).…”

Expansion of the southern limit of Vampyrodes caraccioli Thomas, 1889 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) and first record for Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil

“…Gregorin and Ditchfield 2005, Miranda et al 2006, Nogueira et al 2012, Dias et al 2013, Feijó et al 2015, Moratelli and Dias 2015, and reports of new records for several regions (e.g. Zortéa et al 2013, Dias et al 2016, Basílio et al 2017, including the southern region of the country (e.g.…”