Anoura caudifera (E. Geoffroy)

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 : 47-48

Anoura caudifera (E. Geoffroy)

VOUCHER MATERIAL: 1 male (AMNH *267290); see table 12 for measurements.

IDENTIFICATION: Keys to the species of Anoura were provided by Tamsitt and Nagorsen (1982) and Handley (1984), but new species have been described subsequently ( Molinari, 1994) and additional taxa still await description (Emmons, 1997). Handley (1984) and Molinari (1994) are especially useful references because they tabulated measurement data and provided detailed morphological comparisons among species that could easily be confused. Other useful references contain­ing descriptions and measurements of A. caudifera 6 are Husson (1962, 1978), Tamsitt and Valdivieso (1966), Taddei (1975b), Swanepoel and Genoways (1979), Williams and Genoways (1980a), Webster and Jones (1984), and Brosset and Charles­Dominique (1990). No subspecies of A. caudifera are currently recognized (Koopman, 1994; Molinari, 1994).

Although our single specimen agrees in most respects with previous descriptions of Anoura caudifera , several of its measurements fall in the zone of morphometric overlap between A. caudifera and a smaller species recently described by Molinari (1994), A. luismanueli . Like two individuals of caudifera reported from Surinam by Williams and Genoways (1980a), the Paracou specimen lacks a distinct tail enclosed within the uropatagium, and thus total body length is reduced. Forearm length of the Paracou specimen likewise falls at the bottom end of the range of variation previously reported for A. caudifera (e.g., by Tamsitt and Valdivieso, 1966). Molinari (1994) suggested that Tamsitt and Valdivieso may have included specimens of luismanueli or another small undescribed Anoura in their samples, but Molinari’s estimate of the range of forearm length in caudifera differs little from those of previous authors. Our specimen has a forearm slightly smaller than Molinari reported for true caudifera (33.6 mm as compared with 34.6), a difference that we do not regard as significant given the range of variation commonly seen within other phyllostomid species. The Paracou specimen also has a shorter maxillary toothrow than do specimens of caudifera previously reported from French Guiana and Venezuela, but in this respect it resembles Surinamese material measured by Husson (1962, 1978), Williams and Genoways (1980a), and Molinari (1994).

Comparisons of our voucher to Molinari’s (1994) descriptions of Anoura luismanueli and A. caudifera are otherwise consistent with its identification as a small example of caudifera . The Paracou specimen has a longer calcar and broader uropatagium than seen in luismanueli , and it lacks a continuous, dense fringe of hairs along the uropatagial edge. Instead, the free margin of the uropatagium is lightly furred near the midline but is naked laterally, a trait diagnostic of caudifera ( Molinari, 1994) . Other aspects of the pelage of the Paracou specimen agree with Molinari’s description of caudifera with the exception of the color of the bases of the hairs in our specimen, which are grayishwhite rather than yellowish­ or creamy­white as he described. Given the range of variation in basal fur color that we have observed in other species, we interpret this as within­species variation.

FIELD OBSERVATIONS: Our single example of Anoura caudifera was taken in a groundlevel mistnet in creekside primary forest.