Molossus currentium Thomas, 1901

Cláudio, Vinícius C., Barbosa, Gedimar P., Rocha, Vlamir J. & Rassy, Ricardo Moratelli Fabrício B., 2020, The bat fauna (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of Carlos Botelho State Park, Atlantic Forest of Southeastern Brazil, including new distribution records for the state of São Paulo, Zoologia (e 36514) 37, pp. 1-32 : 20

Molossus currentium Thomas, 1901

Fig. 32

Taxonomy. Molossus É. Geoffroy, 1805 is represented in Brazil by six species: M. aztecus Saussure, 1860 , M. coibensis J.A. Allen, 1904 , M. currentium Thomas, 1901 , M. molossus (Pallas, 1766) , M. pretiosus Miller, 1902 , and M. rufus É. Geoffroy, 1805 ( Nogueira et al. 2014). Molossus pretiosus and M. rufus can be separated from the other four species by forearm length, which is larger than 44.6 mm in M. pretiosus and M. rufus , and smaller than 44.0 mm in the other four species ( Loureiro et al. 2018). Within this group, M. currentium and M. molossus can be separed from M. aztecus and M. coibensis based on dorsal fur coloration. Dorsal hairs in M. currentium and M. molossus are bicolored with a long pale base, which is usually white and can reach from 1/2 to 1/4 of fur extent; dorsal hairs in M. aztecus and M. coibensis are unicolored or with a pale base that is incipient, grayish or buff, and not extending more than 1/3 of fur extent. The length and shape of upper incisors are also usefull characters to distinguish those species; upper incisors are long with pararel tips in M. currentium and M. molossus , and short and spatulated in M. aztecus and M. coibensis ( Loureiro et al. 2018) .

Molossus currentium and M. molossus can be distinguished by the larger size in M. currentium , with forearm averaging 41.3 mm in males and 41.9 mm in females; and in M. molossus averaging 40.2 mm in males and 39.5 mm in females ( Dolan 1989, Simmons and Voss 1998, Lim and Engstrom 2001, Gregorin and Taddei 2002, Gregorin et al. 2011a, Loureiro et al. 2018). They can also be distinguished by the height of sagittal crest, which is high in M. currentium and low in M. molossus ( Loureiro et al. 2018) . One specimen of Molossus was identified as M. currentium (ZSP 050; see Table 8 for measurements) and have general blackish-brown coloration. The dorsal fur is markedly bicolored, with whitish basis extending to 1/3 of fur length and dark brown tips, and average 6.5 mm in length at the shoulders. The upper incisors are long with slightly divergent tips. Sagittal and lambdoidal crests are well developed.

Distribution. In Brazil, the species is recorded only in the Pantanal biome in Mato Grosso state ( Loureiro et al. 2018). Our record represents the southernmost register of the species in Brazil, the first register on the state of São Paulo, and extends the species distribution in Brazil in almost 1,200 km southeastward ( Fig. 31).

Field observations. In June we captured an adult male in a roosting site on a building roof, in sampling site S9 (Appendix 1).