Lichonycteris obscura Thomas, 1895

Simmons, Nancy B. & Voss, Robert S., 1998, The mammals of Paracou, French Guiana, a Neotropical lowland rainforest fauna. Part 1, Bats, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 237, pp. 1-219 : 54

Lichonycteris obscura Thomas

VOUCHER MATERIAL: 1 female (AMNH *267960); see table 15 for measurements.

IDENTIFICATION: Two color morphs occur among specimens of Lichonycteris , a dark brown form that agrees with Thomas’ (1895) original description of L. obscura , and a pale brown form that is often identified as L. degener Miller (1931) . However, the taxonomic status of the latter is problematic due to confusion regarding patterns of variation in both craniodental and pelage characters (Gardner, 1976; Hill, 1985; Ochoa et al., 1993). Pending a revision of the genus, we follow Gardner (1976), Hill (1985), Ochoa et al. (1993), and Koopman (1993, 1994) in regarding degener as a junior synonym of obscura . Descriptions and comparative measurements of L. obscura so defined can be found in Husson (1962, 1978), Gardner (1976), Swanepoel and Genoways (1979), Hill (1985), Brosset and Charles­Dominique (1990), and Ochoa et al. (1993).

Our chocolate­brown specimen agrees closely with previous descriptions of Lichonycteris obscura , and falls within the range of variation in measurements previously report­ ed in the literature.

FIELD OBSERVATIONS: Our specimen was captured in a ground­level mistnet in welldrained primary forest.