Mastozoología Neotropical, 22(1):195-200, Mendoza, 2015
Copyright ©SAREM, 2015
Versión impresa ISSN 0327-9383
Versión on-line ISSN 1666-0536
http://www.sarem.org.ar
Nota
FIRST RECORD OF THE BIG FREE-TAILED BAT,
Nyctinomops macrotis (CHIROPTERA, MOLOSSIDAE),
FOR THE SEMI-ARID CAATINGA SCRUBLANDS
OF NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL
Patrício A. da Rocha1,2, Anderson Feijó2, Mônica A. Pedroso3,
and Stephen F. Ferrari1,2
Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Departamento de Ecologia, 49100-000 São Cristóvão, Sergipe, Brazil.
[correspondence: Patrício A. da Rocha <[email protected]>].
2
Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia,
58059-900 João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.
3
Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes, Campus da Sede, 08780-911, Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, Brazil.
1
ABSTRACT. Nyctinomops macrotis Gray, 1840 is amply distributed in the New World, ranging between the
southwestern United States and northern Argentina. In Brazil, however, most records are concentrated in the
southern Atlantic Forest, with few data from other regions, and none at all from the semi-arid Caatinga scrublands of the Northeast. This study presents the first record of N. macrotis for this biome, and a major extension
of the known range for this species in Brazil.
RESUMO. Primeiro registro do grande morcego de cauda livre, Nyctinomops macrotis (Chiroptera, Molossidae), para a Caatinga semi-árida do nordeste do Brasil. Nyctinomops macrotis Gray, 1840 é amplamente
distribuído no Novo Mundo, ocorrendo entre o sudoeste dos Estados Unidos e norte da Argentina. No Brasil,
no entanto, a maioria dos registros estão concentrados na porção sul da Mata Atlântica, com alguns dados
de outras regiões, e nenhum registro nas áreas semi-áridas de Caatinga do Nordeste. Este trabalho apresenta
o primeiro registro de N. macrotis para este bioma, e uma grande extensão da distribuição conhecida desta
espécie no Brasil.
Key words: “Boqueirão da Onça”. Dry forest. Range extension. Sento Sé.
Palavras-chave: “Boqueirão da Onça”. Extensão de distribuição. Floresta seca. Sento Sé.
Four species are currently recognized
for Nyctinomops: N. aurispinosus (Peale,
1848), N. femorosaccus (Merriam, 1889),
N. laticaudatus (É. Geoffroy St.-Hilaire,
1805), and N. macrotis (Gray, 1840). The
genus is widely distributed in the Americas,
ranging from southern United States to
northern Argentina. Of the four species, only
N. femorosaccus is not known to occur in Brazil
(Eger, 2008).
Nyctinomops macrotis is distributed from
southwestern United States to northern Argen-
Recibido 15 octubre 2014. Aceptado 3 enero 2015. Editor asociado: P Velazco
196 Mastozoología Neotropical, 22(1):195-200, Mendoza, 2015
http://www.sarem.org.ar
tina (Simmons, 2005). In Brazil, most records
are from Atlantic Forest sites in the southeast of
the country, and there are few records from the
Amazon forest, Cerrado savannas or Pantanal
wetlands (Fig. 1, Table 1). Prior to this report,
the only record from northeastern Brazil was a
fossil obtained from the Brejões Cave in Morro
do Chapéu, in the state of Bahia. This fossil
was dated to the Pleistocene (Czaplewski and
Cartelle 1998), when the region may have been
covered with more mesic habitats than those
found in the present day. This study reports
the first record of N. macrotis in the Caatinga
biome, extending the known distribution of the
species about 845 km into northeastern Brazil.
A juvenile female N. macrotis (Fig. 2A) was
collected in mist-nets set at ground level at
a site known as Boqueirão da Onça (9º52’ S,
41°6’ W) in the village of São Pedro do Lago,
located in the municipality of Sento Sé, Bahia,
Brazil. The site is characterized by a complex of
hills and valleys covered with arboreal Caatinga
(deciduous trees of 10-12 m height) which
forms a closed canopy in the rainy season
(December-April). In the valleys, where the
specimen was captured, perennial rivers allow
the formation of dense, evergreen gallery forest (Fig. 2B). The rocky substrate of the river
channel contains small cavities and fissures that
may serve as roosts for N. macrotis.
The specimen was handled following the
recommendations of Sikes et al. (2011), fixed
in 10% formaldehyde and then preserved in
70% ethanol, with the subsequent extraction of
the skull. The specimen was deposited in the
mammal collection of the Universidade Federal
da Paraíba (UFPB 6513) in João Pessoa, Brazil.
The external and cranial measurements (in mm)
followed the guidelines provided by Vizotto
and Taddei (1973), and are as follows: body
length 74.4; tail length 48.2; hindfoot length
9.2; ear length 27.2; forearm length 60.1; tragus
length 4.2; calcaneus length 17.1; greatest length
of the skull 21.7; condylobasal length 20.2;
palate length 8.2; palate breadth 4.4; mastoid
breadth 10.9; zygomatic breadth 11.5; braincase
breadth 9.9; postorbital breadth 4.15; breadth
across canines 4.9; breadth across molars 8.2;
maxillary toothrow 8.1; mandibular length 15.6;
and mandibular toothrow 8.9.
PA da Rocha et al.
Nyctinomops species are usually mistaken
with species of Tadarida, but can be easily
distinguished from them by the following characteristics: joined inner edges of the ears, ears
that extend beyond the tip of the nose when
inclined to the front, two pairs of lower incisors,
and a few, long, and slender facial bristles (Eger,
2008). N. macrotis can be distinguished from
the other members of the genus primarily by
its larger size (see comparison in Kumirai and
Jones, 1990), with a forearm length over 55 mm,
greatest length of the skull more than 22 mm,
braincase breadth usually over 9 mm, maxillary toothrow length usually less than 8.5 mm,
and relatively large and deep basisphenoid pits
(Kumirai and Jones, 1990; Milner et al., 1990;
Eger, 2008).
Like other molossids, N. macrotis is gregarious, although it typically forms smaller colonies
(15-150 individuals) when compared to some
other species of the genus (Silva Taboada, 1979;
Milner et al., 1990; Avila-Flores et al., 2002).
While the species can be found in natural roosts
such as caves, rock crevices, and tree hollows,
it is also commonly found roosting in artificial
structures such as roofs, bridges, and dilatation
joints (Eger, 2008; Reis et al. 2002).
The capture of only one specimen in Sento Sé
may reflect the relative inefficiency of mist-nets
set at ground level for the capture of molossids
in general, whereas active searching in roosts is
generally much more effective (Voss and Emmons, 1996). It seems likely that the specimen
captured in the present study was roosting in
one of the many rock fissures found along the
river valley, which is characterized by a number of perennial bodies of water and distinct
arboreal habitats in comparison with the surrounding scrub. These specific local conditions
may have mediated the establishment of a
population of N. macrotis in the study area, and
it seems likely that other Caatinga populations
of this species may be restricted to the more
humid enclaves found in this biome, such as
the cloud forest refuges, known as “brejos de
altitude” (Andrade-Lima, 1982).
This record brings the total number of chiropteran species known to occur in the Caatinga
biome to 78 (see Paglia et al., 2012), an increase
of 17.9% in comparison with the 64 species
FIRST RECORD OF Nyctinomops macrotis IN THE CAATINGA
Fig. 1. Recorded localities for Nyctinomops macrotis in Brazil. Sites are numbered as in Table 1. The site of
the present study is shown by a star and fossil sites by crosses.
Fig. 2. (A) Nyctinomops macrotis and (B) site of the capture of the specimen on the Boqueirão da
Onça, in the municipality of Sento Sé, Bahia, Brazil.
197
198 Mastozoología Neotropical, 22(1):195-200, Mendoza, 2015
PA da Rocha et al.
http://www.sarem.org.ar
Table 1
Localities at which the occurrence of Nyctinomops macrotis has been confirmed in Brazil. The numbers refer
to the points shown in Fig. 1.
CODE
COORDINATES
LOCALITY
SOURCE
lat y
long x
-8.900
-54.883
Cachimbo - PA
Eger (2008)
2
-6.700
-53.617
Rio Iriri - PA
Thomas (1912)
3
-20.467
-55.783
Aquidauana - MS
Leite et al. (1998)
4
-19.217
-57.017
Nhecolândia - MS
Leite et al. (1998)
5
-26.917
-49.050
Blumenau - SC
Cherem et al. (2004)
6
-23.450
-51.250
Parque Estadual Mata do Godoy,
Londrina - PR
Reis et al. (2012)
7
-23.383
-51.183
Parque Estadual Mata do Godoy,
Londrina - PR
Félix et al. (2001)
8
-23.333
-51.133
Parque Municipal Arthur Thomas,
Londrina - PR
Reis et al. (2012)
1
9
-20.3833
-51.333
Ilha Solteira - SP
Tencate et al. (2012)
10
-20.6333
-51.116
Pereira Barreto - SP
Tencate et al. (2012)
11
-20.7833
-50.333
Castilho - SP
Tencate et al. (2012)
12
-20.900
-51.383
Andradina - SP
Tencate et al. (2012)
13
-21.200
-50.416
Araçatuba - SP
Tencate et al. (2012)
14
-21.3667
-50.283
Coroados - SP
Tencate et al. (2012)
15
-21.400
-50.466
Bilac - SP
Tencate et al. (2012)
16
-23.683
-46.617
Diadema - SP
Passos et al. (1998)
17
-23.533
-46.617
São Paulo - SP
Uieda et al.. (2006)
18
-23.083
-46.617
São Paulo - SP
Dias (2009)
19
-23.533
-46.233
São Paulo - SP
Uieda et al. (1995)
20
-22.617
-43.900
Piraí - RJ
Dias et al. (2010)
21
-23.150
-44.233
Ilha Grande, Angra dos Reis - RJ
Esbérard et al. (2006);
Peracchi and Albuquerque (1971)
22
-23.067
-43.883
Ilha de Marambaia - RJ
Lourenço et al. (2010)
23
-22.733
-43.617
Seropédica - RJ
Peracchi and Albuquerque (1971)
24
-22.950
-44.033
Mangatatiba - RJ
Peracchi and Albuquerque (1971)
25
-22.917
-43.233
Parque da Gávea, Maciço da Tijuca - RJ
Esbérard (2003)
26
-20.316
-40.333
Vitória - ES
Hoppe et al. (2014)
27
-20.367
-43.200
Mariana - MG
Tavares et al. (2010)
28
-18.933
-48.300
Uberlândia - MG
Stutz et al. (2004)
29
-21.233
-45.000
Lavras - MG
Tavares et al. (2010)
30
-19.883
-43.950
Belo Horizonte - MG
Tavares et al. (2010)
31
-13.867
-48.500
Serra da Mesa - GO
Fracasso and Salles (2005)
32
-13.183
-41.150
Gruta dos Brejões, Morro do Chapéu - BA
Czaplewski and Cartelle (1998)
33
-9.733
-41.867
Boqueirão da Onça, Sento Sé - BA
This study
FIRST RECORD OF Nyctinomops macrotis IN THE CAATINGA
reported by Oliveira et al. (2003), little more
than a decade ago. It is important to note that
most of the records compiled in the later study
were obtained from surveys conducted in more
mesic habitats and peripheral ecotonal areas
adjoining neighboring biomes (Carmignotto et
al., 2012). This ongoing increase of the known
diversity of Caatinga bats parallels that for other
groups of fauna and flora (Leal et al., 2005),
reinforcing the conclusion that this semi-arid
habitat has a much richer biota than originally
thought (Mares et al., 1981).
Acknowledgments. We are grateful to Jadson Brito for
technical assistance in the field. AF and PAR were supported by graduate stipends from CAPES. SFF (processes
302747/2008-7 and 483220/2013) and PAR (501701/2013-3)
thank CNPq for research stipends.
LITERATURE CITED
ANDRADE-LIMA D. 1982. Present dry forest refuges
in Northeastern Brazil. Pp. 245-254, in: Biological
diversification in the tropics (GT Prance, ed.). New
York: Columbia University Press.
AVILA-FLORES R, J FLORES-MARTINEZ, and J ORTEGA.
2002. Nyctinomops laticaudatus. Mammalian Species
697:1-6.
CARMIGNOTTO AP, M VIVO, and A LANGGUTH. 2012.
Mammals of the Cerrado and Caatinga: Distribution
patterns of the tropical open biomes of Central South
America. Pp. 307-349, in: Bones, clones, and biomes:
The history and geography of recent Neotropical
mammals (BD Patterson and LP Costa, eds.). Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
CHEREM JJ, PC SIMÕES-LOPES, S ALTHOFF, and
ME GRAIPEL. 2004. Lista dos mamíferos do estado
de Santa Catarina, sul do Brasil. Mastozoologia
Neotropical 11:151-184.
CZAPLEWSKI NJ and C CARTELLE. 1998. Pleistocene
bats from cave deposits in Bahia, Brazil. Journal of
Mammalogy 79:784-803.
DIAS MAG. 2009. Aspectos epidemiológicos de Histoplasma
capsulatum em morcegos em áreas urbanas do estado
de São Paulo. Dissertação: Biotecnologia, Universidade
de São Paulo, São Paulo. Available: <http://www.teses.
usp.br /teses/disponiveis/87/87131/tde-30042010094514/>. Accessed: 2013-01-21.
DIAS D, SN PEREIRA, ACS MAAS, MA MARTINS,
DP BOLZAN and AL PERACCHI. 2010. Quirópteros
das regiões Centro-Sul e Médio da Paraíba do estado
do Rio de Janeiro (Mammalia, Chiroptera). Chiroptera
Neotropical 16:574-585.
EGER JL 2008. Family Molossidae. Pp. 399-438, in:
Mammals of South America, vol 1: Marsupials,
xenarthrans, shrews, and bats (AL Gardner, ed.).
Chicago and London: The University of Chicago
Press.
199
ESBÉRARD CEL. 2003. Diversidade de morcegos em área
de Mata Atlântica regenerada no sudeste do Brasil.
Revista Brasileira de Zoociências 5:189-204.
ESBÉRARD CEL, T JORDÃO-NOGUEIRA, JL LUZ,
GGS MELO, R MANGOLIN, N JUCÁ, DSL RAÍCES,
MC ENRICI, and H BERGALLO. 2006. Morcegos da
Ilha Grande, Angra dos Reis, RJ, Sudeste do Brasil.
Revista Brasileira de Zoociências 8:147-153.
FÉLIX JS, NR REIS, IP LIMA, EF COSTA and
AL PERACCHI. 2001. Is the area of the Arthur Thomas
Park, with its 82.72 ha, sufficient to maintain viable
chiropteran populations? Chiroptera Neotropical 7:1-2.
FRACASSO MPDA and LO SALLES. 2005. Diversity of
Quaternary bats from Serra da Mesa (State of Goias,
Brazil). Zootaxa 817:1-19.
HOPPE JPM, MB SIMÕES, VT PIMENTA, NIB MOREIRA,
KM MARINHO and AD DITCHFIELD. 2014.
First occurrence of Nyctinomops macrotis (Gray,
1839) (Chiroptera: Molossidae) in Espírito Santo,
southeastern Brazil. Check List 10(2):411-413.
KUMIRAI A and JK JONES. 1990. Nyctinomops
femorosaccus. Mammalian Species 349:1-5. LEAL IR, JMC SILVA, M TABARELLI, and TE LACHER Jr.
2005. Mudando o curso da conser vação da
biodiversidade da Caatinga do Nordeste do Brasil.
Megadiversidade 1:139-146.
LEITE AP, M MENEGHELLI, and VA TADDEI. 1998.
Morcegos (Chiroptera: Mammalia) dos pantanais de
Aquidauana e da Nhecolândia, Mato Grosso do Sul. I.
Diversidade de Espécies. Ensaios e Ciência 2:141-148.
LOURENÇO EC, LM COSTA, RM SILVA, and
CEL E SBÉRARD. 2010. Bat diversity of Ilha da
Marambaia, Southern, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil
(Chiroptera, Mammalia). Brazilian Journal of Biology
70:511-519.
MARES MA, MR WILLIG, KE STREILEIN, and
TE LACHER. 1981. The mammals of northeastern
Brazil: A preliminary assessment. Annals of Carnegie
Museum 50:81-137.
MILNER J, C JONES, and JK JONES. 1990. Nyctinomops
macrotis. Mammalian Species 351:1-4.
OLIVEIRA JA, PR GONÇALVES, and CR BONVICINO.
2003. Mamíferos da Caatinga. Pp 275-333, in: Ecologia
e conservação da Caatinga (LR Leal, M Tabarelli,
and J Silva, eds.). Editora Universitária, Universidade
Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil.
PAG L IA A P, G A B F ON SE C A , A B R A N DLYS ,
G HERRMANN, LMS AGUIAR, AG CHIARELLO, YLR
LEITE, LP COSTA, S SICILIANO, MCM KIERULFF,
SL MENDES, VC TAVARES, RA MITTERMEIER,
and JL PATTON. 2012. Lista anotada dos mamíferos
do Brasil, 2ª Edição. Conservation International.
Occasional Papers in Conservation Biology 6:1-76.
PASSOS EC, ML CARRIERI, E DAINOVSKAS,
M CAMARA, and MMS SILVA. 1998. Isolamento
do vírus rábico em morcego insetívoro, Nyctinomops
macrotis, no município de Diadema, SP (Brasil).
Revista de Saúde Pública 32:72-76.
PERACCHI AL and ST ALBUQUERQUE 1971. Lista
provisória dos morcegos dos Estados do Rio de Janeiro
e Guanabara, Brasil (Mammalia, Chiroptera). Revista
Brasileira de Biologia 31:405-413.
200 Mastozoología Neotropical, 22(1):195-200, Mendoza, 2015
http://www.sarem.org.ar
REIS NR, IP LIMA, and AL PERACCHI. 2002. Morcegos
(Chiroptera) da área urbana de Londrina, Paraná,
Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 19:739-746.
REIS NR, PH GALLO, AL PERACCHI, IP LIMA, and
MN FREGONEZI. 2012. Sensitivity of populations
of bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera) in relation to human
development in northern Paraná, southern Brazil.
Brazilian Journal of Biology 72:511-518.
SIKES RS,WL GANNON, and THE ANIMAL CARE
AND USE COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN
SOCIETY OF MAMMALOGISTS. 2011. Guidelines
of the American Society of Mammalogists for the use
of wild mammals in research. Journal of Mammalogy
92:235-253.
SILVA TABOADA, G. 1979. Los murciélagos de Cuba.
Editorial Academia, Havana.
SIMMONS NB. 2005. Order Chiroptera. Pp:312-529,
in: Mammal species of the world: A taxonomic
and geographic reference. 3. ed. (DE Wilson and
DM Reeder, eds.). Baltimore: John Hopkins University
Press.
STUTZ WH, MC ALBUQUERQUE, W UIEDA,
EM MACEDO, and CB FRANÇA. 2004. Updated
list of bats from Uberlandia, state of Minas Gerais
southeastern Brazil. Chiroptera Neotropical 10:188-90.
TAVARES VC, LM AGUIAR, FA PERINI, FC FALCÃO,
and R GREGORIN. 2010. Bats of the state of Minas
Gerais, southeastern Brasil. Chiroptera Neotropical
16:150-152.
PA da Rocha et al.
TENCATE LC, CV TÁPARO, C CARVALHO, SMG BOSCO,
LH QUEIROZ, DC SILVA, SHV PERRI, and
M MARINHO. 2012. Estudo da microbiota fúngica
gastrintestinal de morcegos (Mammalia, Chiroptera)
da região noroeste do estado de São Paulo: potencial
zoonótico. Brazilian Journal of Veterinary Research
and Animal Science 49:146-152.
THOMAS O. 1912. On small mammals from the lower
Amazon. Annals and Magazine of Natural History
9:84-90.
UIEDA W, NMS HARMANI, and MMS SILVA. 1995. Raiva
em morcegos insetívoros do sudeste do Brasil. Revista
de Saúde Pública 29:393-397.
UIEDA W, MMS SILVA, NMS HARMANI, and
EFB GONÇALVEZ. 2006. Bats from the Metropolitan
Region of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. Chiroptera
Neotropical 2:39-41.
VIZOTTO LD and VA TADDEI, 1973. Chave para a
determinação de quirópteros brasileiros. Revista da
Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de São José
do Rio Preto 1:1-72.
VOSS RS and LH EMMONS. 1996. Mammalian diversity
in Neotropical lowland rainforests: A preliminary
assessment. Bulletin of the American Museum of
Natural History 230:1-115.