Trachops cirrhosus (Spix)

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 : 91

Trachops cirrhosus (Spix)

VOUCHER MATERIAL: 8 females (AMNH *266080, *266081, *266082, *267928, *267936; MNHN *1995.1067, *1995.1068, *1995.1069) and 16 males (AMNH *266079, *266084, *266089, *267129, *267442, *267929, *267930, *267932, *267933, *267934, *267935; MNHN *1995.1070, *1995.1071, *1995.1072, *1995.1073, *1995.1074); see table 31 for measurements.

IDENTIFICATION: Descriptions and measurements of Trachops cirrhosus from the Guianas and elsewhere may be found in Goodwin and Greenhall (1961), Husson (1962, 1978), Swanepoel and Genoways (1979), Hall (1981), and Brosset and Charles­Dominique (1990). Three subspecies are currently recognized: T. c. cirrhosus (Costa Rica to Amazonian Brazil and Bolivia, east of the Andes to Ecuador), T. c. coffini (southern Mexico to Nicaragua), and T. c. ehrhardti (Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil, and possibly parts of Bolivia) (Koopman, 1994).

Our Paracou specimens agree well with previous descriptions of Trachops cirrhosus cirrhosus . Like other material with published measurements from the Guianas, our vouchers are among the largest known for the species. In particular, a few forearm measurements from our series slightly exceed the largest values previously reported for T. cirrhosus .

FIELD OBSERVATIONS: We recorded 58 captures (possibly including some recaptures) of Trachops cirrhosus at Paracou, of which 53 were in ground­level mistnets and 5 were at roosts. Of the 53 mistnet captures, 16 were in well­drained primary forest, 25 were in swampy primary forest, 11 were in creekside primary forest (many over streams), and 1 was over a roadside puddle adjacent to welldrained primary forest. Both of the roosts we found were over water in large (2.5 m in diameter) culverts; one roosting group captured in its entirety consisted of four adult males. Most mistnet captures were of solitary individuals, but we once saw a flock of five bats collide with a net set across a small stream; two individuals, both adult females, were captured but the other three escaped. A mistnet enclosure built around a hollow tree occupied by Mimon bennettii and Carollia perspicillata (described in the account for the former species, above) caught a single adult female Trachops that flew directly toward the roost opening from the outside, possibly attempting to ambush the emerging C. perspicillata .