Phyllostomidae Author Don E. Wilson Author Russell A. Mittermeier text 2019 2019-10-31 Lynx Edicions Barcelona Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats 444 583 book chapter 82884 10.5281/zenodo.6458594 adeeb71f-7f8d-4e00-bc9f-35089363f76e 978-84-16728-19-0 6458594 44. Southern Golden Bat Mimon bennettii French: Mimon doré / German: Stdliche Haarnasenfledermaus / Spanish: Mimon dorado Taxonomy. Phyllostoma bennettii J. E. Gray, 1838 , “S. America.” Restricted by P. Hershkovitz in 1951 to Ipanema, Sao Paulo , Brazil . Two lines of thought have treated the genus Mimon as monotypic with a single species bennettii and two subspecies: bennett and cozumelae . Given that there is no intergradation area between the two supposed subspecies, most recent authors have treated the genus as containing two species. Deep chromosomal differences also indicate that they are two distinct species. Monotypic. Distribution. N & E Colombia , N Venezuela , Guianas, and N, E & CW Brazil . Descriptive notes. Head-body 65-74 mm,tail 15-26 mm, ear 32-38 mm, hindfoot 15— 17 mm , forearm 55-61 mm; weight 19-25 g. The Southern Golden Bat is medium-sized. Dorsalfur is long (greater than 8 mm ) and woolly; overall,it looks warm cinnamon-brown, almost reddish in adults, with individual hairs pale at bases. Hair on neck looks paler and can extend to shoulders. Ears are very large, broad, and slightly pointed. Noseleaf is elongated and broad at base (length up to 17 mm , breadth up to 8-5 mm), and edges are naked and smooth, creating unique characteristic for both species of Mimon . Series of large oblong transverse warts occur on sides of large central wart on lowerlip. Wing membranes are pale brown, with very short dark hairs. Forearm is hairy, with longer hairs on proximal one-half. Uropatagium is longer than legs, but tail does not reach one-half ofits length; calcar is long. Distal tip of plagiopatagium can be whitish in some specimens, but it is not a reliable diagnostic characteristic. Short hairs, not visible to the human eye, cover uropatagium and legs. Skull is robust, with short rostrum, gentle slope at frontals toward elevated braincase, and conspicuous but lower sagittal crest. Basisphenoids are broad and shallow, and tympanic bullae are small. Teeth are comparatively robust. Upper incisors fill all space between canines, I? is about one-half as high as I'; I' is in contact in middle, but their tips diverge; P® about one-half the size of P*, both aligned in tooth row; and there are no spaces between P? and C' or P% 1is higher than wide, reaching cingulum of C; and P, slightly shorter than P,. Teeth are comparatively robust. Dental formula for both species of Mimon is12/1,C1/1,P2/2,M 3/3 ( x2 ) = 30. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 30 and FN = 56. Habitat. Mature evergreen forests of the Amazonian and Atlantic Forests and dry and semideciduous forest and cerrado at elevations up to 1000 m . The Southern Golden Bat has not been found in the Pantanal. Food and Feeding. The Southern Golden Bat is usually categorized as a foliage-gleaner, with diets dominated by insects. It probably gleans prey (beetles and katydids rather than moths) from vegetation but could also eat fruits and small vertebrates. Breeding. Female Southern Golden Bats apparently have one young per year at the beginning of rainy season. Pregnant females at the Atlantic Forest have been recorded in June, and in the Cerrado ecoregion, pregnancy was evident in August. Activity patterns. At a single roost in a large hollow tree, Southern Golden Bats emerged during the first hour after sunset (18:25 h), almost at the same time as other species sharing the roost. They usually roost in wet limestone caves, damp underground caves, and hollow logs. Movements, Home range and Social organization. Colonies of Southern Golden Bats have 2-20 individuals but more frequently less than ten individuals. They shared a large tree cavity with Seba’s Short-tailed Bats ( Carollia perspicillata ); based on other reports, they share roosts with up to twelve species from five bat families ( Emballonuridae , Mormoopidae , Phyllostomidae , Natalidae , and Vespertilionidae ). Reported ectoparasites include trombiculids (three species) and spinturnicids (one species); an endoparasitic Trypanosoma cruzilike form is also present on Southern Golden Bats. Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Southern Golden Batis rare to locally common in central Brazil , but few data are available elsewhere in its wide distribution. It occurs in a number of protected areas. Bibliography. Baker, Genoways & Seyfarth et al. (1981), Brosset & Charles-Dominique (1991), Eisenberg (1989), Emmons & Feer (1997), Fenton et al. (1992), Gardner (1977b), Gregorin, Capusso & Furtado (2008), Hershkovitz (1951), Hoppe & Ditchfield (2016), Molina et al. (1995), Ortega & Arita (1997), Simmons & Voss (1998), Williams & Genoways (2008), Wilson (1979).