Noteworthy Records Of Bats From Nicaragua, With A Checklist Of The Chiropteran Part 4

Eumops auripendulus (Shaw, 1800)

A broken skull (USNM 339917) of a female of this species from Hda.

Mecatepe [2 km N, 11.5 km E Nandaime, _ca._ 40 m], Granada, represents the only known specimen of the genus _Eumops_ from Nicaragua. This bat was obtained by M. K. Clark on 25 August 1964, but the conditions under which it was captured are not known. Available cranial measurements are: zygomatic breadth, 12.6 mm; breadth of braincase, 10.7 mm; pos...o...b..tal breadth, 4.3 mm; rostral breadth, 7.4 mm; length of maxillary toothrow, 9.1 mm; length of mandibular c-m3, 10.0 mm.

Molossus ater nigricans Miller, 1902

_Specimens._--_Chinandega_: Potosi, 5 m, 21; 4.5 km N Cosiguina, 15 m, 2; El Paraiso, 1 km N Cosiguina, 20 m, 17; Hda. Bellavista, 720 m, Volcan Casita, 4; Hda. San Isidro, 10 km S Chinandega, 20 m, 2; San Antonio, 35 m, 2. _Nueva Segovia_: Corozo, 15 km NNE Jalapa, 660 m, 1; 3.5 km S, 2 km W Jalapa, 660 m, 4.

Only one specimen of this large molossid (from Volcan de Chinandega--J.

A. Allen, 1908:670) has been reported from Nicaragua. All of our specimens are from the northern or northwestern part of the country.

Many were shot in early evening as they followed a straight, direct flight pattern (presumably from day-roosts toward foraging or watering areas); the series from Potosi was netted over a small stream as described in the account of _Noctilio leporinus_. We confidently refer our material to the species currently known as _ater_, although a.s.signment to the subspecies nigricans is tentative.

Of 21 females autopsied in the first week of March on the Cosiguina Peninsula, seven were pregnant, each with a single embryo (7-22 mm in crown-rump length, average 16.7). Ten males taken at the same time had an average testicular length of 5.7 (2-7) mm, whereas the testes of a male obtained on 9 March at San Antonio measured 8 mm. None of five females obtained in late July in Nueva Segovia evidenced reproductive activity, nor did two of three females taken in July and one taken in August from Chinandega; the fourth Chinandegan female, taken on 17 July, carried an embryo that was 36 mm in length. Two males from southern Chinandega (mid-July) had testes 7 and 4 mm long.

Representative measurements of 10 specimens of each s.e.x from Nicaragua are given in Table 4.

Molossus molossus aztecus Saussure, 1860

_Specimens._--_Chinandega_: Potosi, 5 m, 1; Hda. San Isidro, 10 km S Chinandega, 20 m, 1 (USNM). _Boaco_: Santa Rosa, 17 km N, 15 km E Boaco, 300 m, 7. _Managua_: 3 mi SW Managua, 8. _Rivas_: Rivas, 60 m, 4.

This small free-tailed species has been reported from Nicaragua by Felten (1957:14), who listed two females from Corinto. Our records indicate that it is widely distributed, but of localized occurrence.

Specimens from Potosi and Santa Rosa were captured in mist nets over streams (as described in the accounts of _Noctilio leporinus_ and _Myotis elegans_, respectively). The specimen from Hda. San Isidro was shot in flight, whereas those from Rivas were captured in a daytime retreat in a deep crevice in a concrete school building. We have no precise knowledge of the conditions under which bats from 3 mi SW Managua were obtained but suspect they were taken from a building.

Females in our series were reproductively active at all times for which we have information--early March through mid-July--as follows: a female from Potosi (6 March) carried an embryo that measured 5 mm (crown-rump length) as did one from Santa Rosa (21 March, 17 mm in length); two of three females taken 3 mi SW Managua on 28 March were pregnant (embryos 13 and 15 mm), whereas each of two collected there on 3 May were gravid (embryos 27 and 30 mm); one female from Rivas (25 June) carried an embryo (30 mm) and another was lactating and accompanied by a small (forearm, 19.7 mm) hairless juvenile; and, finally, one of six females netted at Santa Rosa on 13 July was pregnant (embryo 23 mm), but the others evinced no reproductive activity. An adult male, taken at Rivas with the females mentioned above, had testes that were 6 mm in length.

Bats of the genus _Molossus_ are in need of thorough systematic study.

We think most, if not all, mainland populations of small _Molossus_ with pale-based hairs pertain to the species _Molossus molossus_, originally described from the Lesser Antilles. Although there is some variation in size and overall color among our Nicaraguan samples, all seem to represent that species. Because specimens from Nicaragua closely resemble examples of _M. m. aztecus_ from Jalisco, Mexico (Table 3), in external and cranial proportions, we tentatively refer them to _aztecus_.

In our field experience in both Middle and South America, colonies of _M. molossus_ tend to be extremely localized, with individual populations or demes frequently separated by many miles of territory in which the species seemingly does not regularly occur.

TABLE 3.--Selected measurements of adult _Molossus molossus_.

Table Legend:

Col. A: Number of specimens averaged or catalogue number, and s.e.x Col. B: Length of forearm Col. C: Greatest length of skull Col. D: Condylobasal length Col. E: Zygomatic breadth Col. F: Mastoid breadth Col. G: Breadth of braincase Col. H: Pos...o...b..tal constriction Col. I: Length of maxillary toothrow Col. J: Breadth across upper molars

====================================================================== A B C D E F G H I J ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Western Jalisco, Mexico

KU 109075, [Male] 38.2 18.0 15.3 11.0 10.5 9.1 3.8 6.2 7.9 KU 109076, [Male] 37.3 17.8 15.3 11.0 10.5 9.2 3.6 6.3 8.1 KU 120540, [Male] 37.7 17.8 15.3 11.0 10.8 8.9 3.9 6.3 8.1 Average 15 ([Female]) 37.1 17.2 14.8 10.7 10.3 8.9 3.8 6.1 7.9 Minimum 36.0 16.5 14.2 10.4 10.1 8.5 3.7 6.0 7.7 Maximum 38.1 17.7 15.2 11.0 10.5 9.2 3.9 6.2 8.2

Departamento de Chinandega, Nicaragua

USNM 337552, [Male] 39.0 18.2 15.5 11.0 10.7 9.0 3.7 6.0 8.0 KU 114140, [Female] 37.3 16.8 14.7 10.7 9.9 8.7 3.4 5.9 7.4

3 mi SW Managua, Nicaragua

KU 71009, [Male] 39.8 18.7 16.1 11.1 10.9 8.9 3.8 6.3 8.0 KU 71011, [Male] 39.4 18.5 16.5 -- 11.0 9.2 3.7 6.7 8.0 Average 5 ([Female]) 38.9 17.5 15.4 10.7 10.3 9.0 3.6 6.1 7.8 Minimum 38.1 17.2 15.1 10.5 10.1 8.9 3.5 5.9 7.6 Maximum 39.7 18.0 15.9 10.9 10.6 9.1 3.7 6.3 8.0

Santa Rosa, Boaco, Nicaragua

Average 6 ([Female]) 36.0 17.5 14.7 10.8 10.6 9.1 3.7 6.0 8.0 Minimum 35.5 17.3 14.4 10.6 10.4 9.0 3.6 5.7 7.8 Maximum 36.7 17.8 15.1 11.0 10.8 9.2 3.8 6.2 8.2

Rivas, Nicaragua

KU 106291, [Male] 38.2 18.8 16.1 11.5 10.9 9.4 3.8 6.6 8.3 KU 106290, [Female] 39.6 17.4 15.0 11.0 10.5 9.1 3.6 6.0 7.7 KU 106293, [Female] 37.2 17.3 14.8 10.7 10.2 9.0 3.5 5.7 7.8 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

The localized and presumably highly inbred populations may have diverged morphologically, in some cases at least, to a degree that mensural differences can be demonstrated even between samples from the same general geographic area. Localized variation and relatively marked secondary s.e.xual variation (unrecognized by some earlier workers), superimposed on geographic variation, have resulted in application of a relatively large number of names to these small _Molossus_. Felten (1957:13-14), for example, apparently used different specific names for males and females from El Salvador, and Gardner (1966) employed three different specific names for North American specimens. Only when material is available for a detailed study of variation throughout the Neotropics can the perplexing mosaic of characters in these small _Molossus_ be a.s.sessed adequately.

We have seen no specimens from Nicaragua that are identifiable as _Molossus bondae_, another relatively small species that has been reported from Greytown (Miller, 1913a:89) and from elsewhere in Central America by other authors (Goodwin, 1942c:145; Handley, 1966b:772; Gardner _et al._, 1970:727). Our examination of the female holotype of _M. bondae_ reveals that it is larger than _M. molossus_, corresponding in size to females recently reported from Costa Rica by Gardner _et al._ (_loc. cit._), and that _bondae_ has dark-based hairs. The two males reported by Goodwin (_loc. cit._) from Honduras as _bondae_, would seem to be too small for that species, based on the measurements listed; also, these specimens allegedly have white-based hairs and probably represent _M. molossus_ as here defined.

Molossus pretiosus pretiosus Miller, 1902

_Specimens._--_Boaco_: Los Cocos, 14 km S Boaco, 220 m, 28; San Francisco, 19 km S, 2 km E Boaco, 200 m, 3. _Carazo_: 3 km N, 4 km W Diriamba, 600 m, 25. _Managua_: 6 mi WSW Managua, 3.

This relatively large mastiff bat has not been reported previously from Nicaragua. Specimens from several localities in Boaco were captured in mist nets over streams; most of those from northwest of Diriamba were shot in the early evening as they foraged high around large trees in a coffee finca, but several were netted over a water-filled concrete tank or found in the water in the tank as detailed in the account of _Eptesicus furinalis_. At Los Cocos, bats that we netted seemed to be emerging from a hollow located high in a tree over the stream.

Selected measurements of _M. p. pretiosus_ from Nicaragua, which compare favorably with those of topotypes from Venezuela, are listed in Table 4 along with measurements of _M. ater_ and _M. sinaloae_. The taxonomic relations.h.i.+ps of _M. pretiosus_ and _M. ater_ are less than clear, and some authors (Handley, 1966b:773, for instance) have suggested that the two may be conspecific. Whatever their ultimate relations.h.i.+ps may prove to be, two distinctive taxa seem to be present in Nicaragua; the larger is a.s.signable to _ater_ and the smaller to _pretiosus_, as currently understood. Furthermore, the presumed presence of two large _Molossus_ with dark-based hairs elsewhere in Central America (Dilford C. Carter, personal communication) and in southeastern Mexico (Goodwin, 1956:4; Goodwin and Greenhall, 1964:20) argues for specific recognition of _pretiosus_.

The species _ater_ and _pretiosus_ differ mainly in size (Table 4), some measurements clearly separating the two when s.e.xual dimorphism is considered. Also, the average weights of 18 nonpregnant females and four males of _pretiosus_ (all adults) collected on 20 February 1968 at Los Cocos, were 20.9 (14.6-23.8) and 27.0 (24.6-31.7) gms, respectively, significantly smaller than corresponding figures for 11 nonpregnant females and nine males of _M. a. nigricans_ taken two weeks later on the Cosiguina Peninsula--29.1 (26.1-33.0) and 32.9 (29.3-35.1) gms. It is of note that we have not collected these two large species at the same localities in Nicaragua, and it is possible that one compet.i.tively excludes the other in local situations.

TABLE 4.--Selected measurements of adults of three species of _Molossus_ from Nicaragua.

Table Legend:

Col. A: Number of specimens averaged or catalogue number, and s.e.x Col. B: Length of forearm Col. C: Greatest length of skull Col. D: Condylobasal length Col. E: Zygomatic breadth Col. F: Breadth of braincase Col. G: Length of maxillary toothrow Col. H: Breadth across upper canines

==================================================================== A B C D E F G H --------------------------------------------------------------------

_Molossus ater nigricans_, Departamento de Chinandega, Nicaragua

Average 10 ([Male]) 49.5 23.2 20.2 14.3 11.0 8.2 6.1 Minimum 48.2 22.8 19.9 14.1 10.5 8.0 6.0 Maximum 50.7 23.5 20.5 14.9 11.2 8.3 6.3 Average 10 ([Female]) 49.0 22.0 19.2 13.6 10.7 7.8 5.8 Minimum 47.1 21.5 18.8 13.3 10.5 7.6 5.6 Maximum 51.2 22.5 20.0 14.1 11.0 8.2 6.1

_Molossus pretiosus pretiosus_, Departamento de Boaco, Nicaragua

Average 8 ([Male]) 45.1 21.7 18.8 13.4 10.6 7.6 5.9 Minimum 44.1 21.0 18.3 13.1 10.2 7.4 5.6 Maximum 46.1 22.2 19.1 13.7 10.9 7.9 6.1 Average 23 ([Female]) 43.6 20.2 17.7 12.5 10.1 7.3 5.2 Minimum 41.0 19.5 17.2 12.2 9.5 7.1 5.0 Maximum 44.8 20.7 18.2 13.1 10.4 7.6 5.6

6 mi SW Managua, Nicaragua

KU 70135, [Male] 44.8 21.7 18.6 13.0 10.2 7.7 5.8 KU 70137, [Male] 45.1 21.6 19.0 13.2 10.7 7.7 5.8 KU 70136, [Female] 43.5 19.9 17.8 12.7 10.3 7.5 5.5

3 km N, 4 km W Diriamba, Nicaragua

Average 7 ([Male]) 44.8 21.2 18.5 13.0 10.5 7.4 5.5 Minimum 43.8 20.7 18.3 12.7 10.2 7.2 5.4 Maximum 45.7 21.3 18.8 13.3 10.9 7.6 5.5 Average 9 ([Female]) 44.0 20.7 18.0 12.6 10.2 7.3 5.3 Minimum 42.0 20.0 17.4 12.0 10.0 7.0 5.0 Maximum 45.5 21.2 18.6 13.0 10.6 7.5 5.5