Peropteryx leucoptera Peters, 1867

Velazco, Paúl M., Voss, Robert S., Fleck, David W. & Simmons, Nancy B., 2021, Mammalian Diversity And Matses Ethnomammalogy In Amazonian Peru Part 4: Bats, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2021 (451), pp. 1-201 : 16-18

Peropteryx leucoptera Peters, 1867

Figures 4B , 5A

VOUCHER MATERIAL (TOTAL = 3): Nuevo San Juan (AMNH 273182, 273197; MUSM 15247); see table 5 for measurements.

UNVOUCHERED OBSERVATIONS: A single individual of Peropteryx leucoptera was captured at Tahuayo Farm on 19 February 2019.

IDENTIFICATION: Peropteryx leucoptera is distinguished from other congeners by its intermediate size (forearm 42–46 mm), translucent wings that gradually darken to brown near the body, presence of a transverse band of skin connecting the ears, a skull with a relatively broad rostrum that is not dorsally inflated, large and deep lateral pterygoid pits separated by the presphenoid 4 and the basisphenoid pit, and presence of a peglike anterior upper premolar (fig. 5A; Lim et al., 2010). Descriptions and measurements of P. leucoptera were provided by Sanborn

4 Lim et al. (2010) mistakenly identified the bone that separates the pterygoid pits in Peropteryx leucoptera and P. pallidoptera as a “mesopterygoid extension.” However, the bone that separates the pterygoid pits is the caudal portion of the presphenoid (fig. 5).

(1937), Husson (1962, 1978), Jones and Hood (1993), Simmons and Voss (1998), Lim et al. (2010), and McDonough et al. (2010). Two subspecies are currently recognized: P. l. leucoptera (southeastern Colombia and Ecuador, northeastern Peru, northern Brazil, southern Venezuela, and the Guianas) and P. l. cyclops (southeastern Peru) (Hood and Gardner, 2008; Lim et al., 2010; McDonough et al., 2010).

Fleck et al. (2002) and Lim et al. (2010) correctly identified their material from Nuevo San Juan as Peropteryx leucoptera . The Nuevo San Juan specimens are slightly larger in most measurements than those reported from the Guianas, and they are slightly smaller in some measurements that those of the holotype of P. l. cyclops (Lim et al. 2010: table 1), but after careful morphological comparison of the specimens from Nuevo San Juan with material from other localities throughout the distribution of the species, we found no morphological support for the continued recognition of P. l. cyclops as a distinct subspecies.

REMARKS: Ascorra et al. (1993) reported a roosting group of this species that was found under a dead palm frond in a swamp at Jenaro Herrera, but no voucher material was collected, and we consider the identification to be problematic. The individual from Tahuayo Farm was captured in a ground-level mistnet in secondary vegetation, but all the other individuals of Peropteryx leucoptera from our region were taken from roosts at Nuevo San Juan: (1) one group of two individuals was found on 26 October 1999 perched on the underside of a fallen tree next to a stream in primary forest (one adult male was collected); (2) another pair was found inside a hol-

TABLE 5

External and Craniodental Measurements (mm) and Weights (g) of Peropteryx leucoptera

and P. pallidoptera from the Yavarí-Ucayali Interfluve

low log in hilltop primary forest on 3 November 1999 (one adult male was collected); and (3) a group of three individuals was found on the underside of a fallen tree in primary upland forest near a stream on 12 November 1999 (one adult male was collected). Peropteryx leucoptera was not found roosting with any other bat species.

Our observations from Nuevo San Juan are consistent with those of several previous authors (e.g., Simmons and Voss, 1998; Bernard, 1999; Díaz and Linares García, 2012; Rengifo et al., 2013) who reported that, in rock- and caveless landscapes, Peropteryx leucoptera usually roosts inside or under fallen trees.

Figures

FIG. 4. Photographs of A, an adult female (MUSM 37068) Diclidurus isabella captured at Lago Preto; B, an adult female Peropteryx leucoptera captured at Tahuayo Farm; and C, an adult P. macrotis captured at Frog Valley. Photographs by Mark Bowler (A) and Brock Fenton (B, C).

FIG. 5. Basicranial views of Peropteryx leucoptera (A, AMNH 273182), P. pallidoptera (B, MUSM 13228), and P. macrotis (C, AMNH 266005) illustrating taxonomic differences in the size and separation of the pterygoid pits. In P. leucoptera, large pterygoid pits (ptp) are separated by the presphenoid (pre) and the basisphenoid pit (bsp). In P. pallidoptera, small pterygoid pits are separated by the presphenoid and the basisphenoid pit. In P. macrotis, small pterygoid pits are separated only by the basisphenoid pit. Other abbreviations: coc, cochlea; ect, ectotympanic; gf, glenoid fossa.