Noctilio leporinus (Linnaeus)

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 : 44

Noctilio leporinus (Linnaeus)

VOUCHER MATERIAL: 3 females (AMNH *265974, *267398; MNHN *1995.863); see table 9 for measurements.

IDENTIFICATION: Descriptions and comparative measurements of Noctilio leporinus can be found in Husson (1962, 1978) and Davis (1973). Davis recognized three subspecies in his revision: N. l. mastivus (Mexico and the southernmost Bahamas south to western Ecuador and Venezuela), N. l. leporinus (Guianas and eastern Ecuador to eastern Brazil), and N. l. rufescens (Bolivia and southern Brazil to northern Argentina).

Our Paracou vouchers conform with Davis’ (1973) description of the nominate subspecies and are similar in size to specimens previously reported from Surinam. These Guianan specimens are among the smallest known representatives of the species (Davis, 1973), one of our vouchers (MNHN 1995.863) having the smallest body weight (44.5 g) yet recorded for an adult Noctilio leporinus .

FIELD OBSERVATIONS: All three specimens that we captured at Paracou were taken in ground­level mistnets set across a small stream (fig. 14) in primary forest.