Artibeus (Dermanura) gnomus Handley, 1987

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 : 100-101

Artibeus (Dermanura) gnomus Handley, 1987

Figure 24B

VOUCHER MATERIAL (TOTAL = 27): Jenaro Herrera (CEBIOMAS 91; MUSM 861, 1322, 5519, 5535, 5590–5593, 6969), Nuevo San Juan (AMNH 272861, 272862; MUSM 13156, 13158, 13159), Quebrada Betilia (MUSA 15152), Quebrada Blanco (MUSM 21013–21015), Quebrada Lobo (MUSA 15120, 15122), Quebrada Pantaleón (MUSA 15244, 15245), Quebrada Sábalo (MUSA 15213, 15216), Río Blanco (MUSA 15104, 15105); see table 42 for measurements.

UNVOUCHERED OBSERVATIONS: None.

IDENTIFICATION: Artibeus gnomus can be distinguished from other small Artibeus by the following combination of traits: pale-brown to grayish-brown dorsal pelage; tricolored dorsal fur; distinct white facial stripes; margins of ear yellow; only proximal half of forearm covered by long and dense fur; uropatagium brown and naked (hairless); rostrum short, broad, not elevated, and lacking a dorsal concavity; posterior border of hard palate V-shaped, with nearly straight sides; impression of optic nerve in orbit well developed; angular process weakly developed and not reaching the level of the condyloid process; second upper premolar caniniform; M1 with broad talon; and m3 present (Handley, 1987; Marques-Aguiar, 2008a; Dávalos et al., 2014; Díaz et al., 2016; Solari, 2019d). Descriptions and measurements of Artibeus gnomus have been provided by Handley (1987), Brosset and Charles- Dominique (1990), Simmons and Voss (1998), and Lim et al. (2005). No subspecies are currently recognized (Marques-Aguiar, 2008a).

Ascorra et al. (1993), Fleck et al. (2002), and Medina et al. (2015) correctly identified their specimens from Jenaro Herrera, Nuevo San Juan, Quebrada Betilia, Quebrada Lobo, Quebrada Pantaleón, and Quebrada Sábalo as Artibeus gnomus . The voucher material we examined from the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluve conforms to previous descriptions of the species, with measurements that fall within the previously documented range of size variation for A. gnomus .

REMARKS: Only six recorded nocturnal captures of Artibeus gnomus from our region are accompanied by ecological information. Of these, 5 were made in ground-level mistnets, and 1 was made in an elevated net. Five of these mistnet captures were in primary forest, but one was in secondary vegetation.

We encountered two roosts of this species, both of which were “apical” tents (sensu Kunz et al., 1994) made from leaves of hemiepiphytic aroids (probably Philodendron sp. ). The first was about 6 m above the ground on the trunk of a Cecropia tree in secondary vegetation near Nuevo San Juan on 8 July 1998 (a field drawing of this roost was reproduced by Simmons and Voss, 2009: fig. 42.2); this shelter was occupied by one adult male and three adult females, all of which were collected. The second roost was only about 2 m above the ground in secondary vegetation at Jenaro Herrera on 29 January 2012; this tent was occupied by three or four bats, of which only one adult female was collected.

Figures

FIG. 24. Photographs of A, an adult Artibeus anderseni and B, an adult A. gnomus, both captured at Jenaro Herrera. Photographs by Marco Tschapka.